2016 United States presidential election
58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Virginia junior senator Tim Kaine, in what was considered one of the biggest political upsets in American history. It was the fifth and most recent presidential election in which the winning candidate lost the popular vote.
Incumbent Democratic president Barack Obama was ineligible to run for a third term due to the term limits established by the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Clinton—wife of former president Bill Clinton and as such a former first lady—secured the nomination over U.S. senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and became the first female presidential nominee of a major American political party. Initially considered a novelty candidate, Trump presented himself as a blunt-spoken political outsider and emerged as the Republican front-runner, defeating several notable opponents, including U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as well as governors John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Trump's right-wing populist and nationalist campaign promised to "Make America Great Again" and opposed political correctness and many US free trade agreements, while supporting a more hard-line approach on illegal immigration. Trump garnered extensive free media coverage due to his inflammatory comments. Clinton emphasized her extensive political experience; denounced Trump and half of his supporters as "deplorable" bigots and extremists; and advocated the expansion of Obama's policies, stressing racial equality, LGBT rights, women's rights, and inclusive capitalism.
The tone of the election campaign was widely characterized as divisive, negative, and troubling.
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