Since its founding in 1851, The New York Times has endorsed a candidate for president of the United States for all but two presidential elections (1852 and 1856) in the paper’s history. The first endorsement was in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln and the most recent one was for Joe Biden in 2020. Its first six endorsements were for Republicans, and it was not until 1884 that it backed its first Democrat, Grover Cleveland. Since then it has endorsed the Democratic candidate 27 times, the Republican six times (the last being Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956), and a third-party candidate once (in 1896).
Primary election
Democratic Party
| Ref. |
| 2000 |
|
Al Gore |
Won |
|
| 2004 |
|
John Kerry |
Won |
|
| 2008 |
|
Hillary Clinton |
Lost |
|
| 2012 |
No endorsement |
| 2016 |
|
Hillary Clinton |
Won |
|
| 2020 |
|
Elizabeth Warren |
Lost |
|
| Amy Klobuchar |
Lost |
|
Republican Party
| Ref. |
| 2000 |
|
John McCain |
Lost |
|
| 2004 |
No endorsement |
| 2008 |
|
John McCain |
Won |
|
| 2012 |
No endorsement |
| 2016 |
|
John Kasich |
Lost |
|
| 2020 |
No endorsement |
|
General election
| Other major candidate(s) |
Ref. |
| 1860 |
|
Abraham Lincoln |
Won |
|
Stephen A. Douglas |
|
John C. Breckinridge |
|
John Bell |
|
| 1864 |
|
Abraham Lincoln |
Won |
|
George B. McClellan |
| 1868 |
|
Ulysses S. Grant |
Won |
|
Horatio Seymour |
| 1872 |
|
Ulysses S. Grant |
Won |
|
Horace Greeley |
| 1876 |
|
Rutherford B. Hayes |
Won |
|
Samuel Tilden |
| 1880 |
|
James Garfield |
Won |
|
Winfield S. Hancock |
| 1884 |
|
Grover Cleveland |
Won |
|
James G. Blaine |
| 1888 |
|
Grover Cleveland |
Lost |
|
Benjamin Harrison |
| 1892 |
|
Grover Cleveland |
Won |
|
Benjamin Harrison |
|
James Weaver |
| 1896 |
|
John M. Palmer |
Lost |
|
William Jennings Bryan |
|
William McKinley |
| 1900 |
|
William McKinley |
Won |
|
William Jennings Bryan |
| 1904 |
|
Alton B. Parker |
Lost |
|
Theodore Roosevelt |
| 1908 |
|
William Howard Taft |
Won |
|
William Jennings Bryan |
| 1912 |
|
Woodrow Wilson |
Won |
|
William Howard Taft |
|
Theodore Roosevelt |
| 1916 |
|
Woodrow Wilson |
Won |
|
Charles Evans Hughes |
| 1920 |
|
James M. Cox |
Lost |
|
Warren G. Harding |
| 1924 |
|
John W. Davis |
Lost |
|
Calvin Coolidge |
|
Robert M. La Follette, Sr. |
| 1928 |
|
Alfred E. Smith |
Lost |
|
Herbert Hoover |
| 1932 |
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Won |
|
Herbert Hoover |
| 1936 |
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Won |
|
Alf Landon |
| 1940 |
|
Wendell Willkie |
Lost |
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 1944 |
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Won |
|
Thomas E. Dewey |
| 1948 |
|
Thomas E. Dewey |
Lost |
|
Harry S. Truman |
|
Strom Thurmond |
|
Henry A. Wallace |
| 1952 |
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Won |
|
Adlai E. Stevenson |
| 1956 |
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Won |
|
Adlai E. Stevenson |
| 1960 |
|
John F. Kennedy |
Won |
|
Richard Nixon |
| 1964 |
|
Lyndon B. Johnson |
Won |
|
Barry Goldwater |
| 1968 |
|
Hubert H. Humphrey |
Lost |
|
Richard Nixon |
|
George Wallace |
| 1972 |
|
George McGovern |
Lost |
|
Richard Nixon |
| 1976 |
|
Jimmy Carter |
Won |
|
Gerald Ford |
| 1980 |
|
Jimmy Carter |
Lost |
|
Ronald Reagan |
|
John B. Anderson |
| 1984 |
|
Walter Mondale |
Lost |
|
Ronald Reagan |
| 1988 |
|
Michael Dukakis |
Lost |
|
George H. W. Bush |
| 1992 |
|
Bill Clinton |
Won |
|
George H. W. Bush |
|
Ross Perot |
| 1996 |
|
Bill Clinton |
Won |
|
Bob Dole |
|
Ross Perot |
| 2000 |
|
Al Gore |
Lost |
|
George W. Bush |
|
Ralph Nader |
| 2004 |
|
John Kerry |
Lost |
|
George W. Bush |
| 2008 |
|
Barack Obama |
Won |
|
John McCain |
| 2012 |
|
Barack Obama |
Won |
|
Mitt Romney |
| 2016 |
|
Hillary Clinton |
Lost |
|
Donald Trump |
| 2020 |
|
Joe Biden |
Won |
|
Donald Trump |
|
