Interesting fact - Out of the last 20 Presidents

[packman]

Since founding of Republican party with Abe Lincoln's election , four Republicans became President with victory in the Electoral College:

Rutherford Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
George W. Bush
Donald Trump

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

And now we know about the curse of the Electoral College - It spawns the worst

[MFM008]

1. Losers

No..SUPER losers.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick.

[Jim Lane]

3. It came close to working the other way in 2004.

In the official figures, Bush's nationwide margin over Kerry was about 3,000,000 votes. In Ohio, Bush's margin was less than 120,000. There were reasons to question the Ohio result, both in terms of voter suppression before Election Day and in terms of fraudulent counting of the votes cast. See, for example, Barbara Boxer's formal objection to the certification -- archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20080607140724/http://boxer.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=230450 -- or Greg Palast's detailed analysis.

In the Electoral College, Bush beat Kerry, 286-251. With an honest election in Ohio, Kerry would not have overcome Bush's national lead in the popular vote, but flipping Ohio's 20 electoral votes makes Kerry the President by 271-266. (The totals are short of 538 because one Democratic elector from Minnesota screwed up and voted for Edwards for both offices.)

Aside from the other obvious benefits of electing Kerry, it would have been wonderfully appropriate if Bush, of all people, had been ousted by the Electoral College after winning the popular vote.

[bitterross]

4. It comes from slavery. The worst from the worst.

We are still being ruined by the white slavers of the South.

[Yuorik57]

5. Some Historical context

Actually, with the exception of Thomas Jefferson in 1800, every President was elected with victory in the Electoral College because that is how we elect presidents. The fact that most presidents also won the popular vote is a happy coincidence.

Of the elections you cite, the least honest was the election of Rutherford B. Hayes whose electoral victory was secured by the occupation of the South during Reconstruction. Hayes was elected because Republicans had a one seat majority on the committee that counted votes and promised to serve only one term because of the taint on his election. Several Southern states submitted two slates of electors and had the Democrats (of the time) held the majority, a more pro-Southern candidate (Samuel Tilden of NY). He also pledged to withdraw the Union armies from the South ending Reconstruction and beginning the era of Jim Crow laws. Prior to the Civil War he favored conciliation with the South and after the war he opposed the radical Republican approach to Reconstruction.

For this reason campaigns focus on the few states that are close enough to be contested. If elections were based on popular votes, states like NY, California, and Texas would see more campaigning and probably have closer margins than they do when they are largely ignored by candidates.

I tend to think that the college is less of a legacy of slavery than it is a legacy of the founder's mistrust of democracy. Initially electors were chosen by state legislatures rather than election. The first president elected with universal manhood suffrage was Andrew Jackson who was himself a slave owner. Today the college gives disproportionate influence to smaller states which favors Republicans. At the time the Constitution was adopted slave holding states such as Virginia favored proportional representation and the smaller states like Delaware and New Jersey advocated for equal representation among states. The great compromise which created the House and Senate is also known as the Connecticut compromise. Connecticut instituted a process to abolish slavery beginning in 1784.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. I think it's in Federalist--It's to help prevent faction or populist wins from high population areas

Back when a few major population centers outweighed those in more rural states, a political faction or a populist upswelling could heavily sway the presidential election.

[Skittles]

7. the least honest was the one who had help from RUSSIA