The US is to elect its 44th president on November 4 among Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain as well as four other runners, either being independent or from the third parties.

If Obama wins the elections, he will become the first African-American president in the country. Should McCain prevail on November 4, he will be the oldest president, at 72, when he is sworn in for the first term.

In the past decades, presidential nominees from the two major parties were either incumbent or former elected officials, especially the secretary of state and vice president that were considered "stepping-stones" to the White House.

Recent elections favored state governors with the last five presidents all having been governors of a state. However, the 2008 elections are between two sitting senators, Obama from Illinois and McCain from Arizona.

Usually, the winner of the US presidential elections received a majority of popular votes and also a majority of electoral votes. But in the 2000 elections, Democratic candidate Al Gore lost to his rival, George W. Bush, due to his minority of electoral votes although he won more popular votes.

The following is the list of winners and losers of the US presidential elections since 1900:

Year Winner (Party) Loser(Party) Electoral votes

1900 William McKinley(R) William Jennings Bryan(D) 292:155

1904 Theodore Roosevelt(R) Alton B. Parker(D) 336:140

1908 William Howard Taft(R) William Jennings Bryan(D) 321:162

1912 Woodrow Wilson(D) Theodore Roosevelt(Bull-Moose) 435:88

1916 Woodrow Wilson(D) Charles Evans Hughes (R) 277:254

1920 Warren G. Harding (R) James M. Cox (D) 404:127

1924 Calvin Coolidge(R) John W. Davis (D) 383:136

1928 Herbert Hoover (R) Al Smith (D) 444:87

1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt(D) Herbert Hoover(R) 472:59

1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt(D) Alf Landon(R) 523:8

1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) Wendell Willkie (R) 449:82

1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) Thomas E. Dewey(R) 432:99

1948 Harry S. Truman (D) Thomas E. Dewey(R) 303:189

1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Adlai Stevenson(D) 442:89

1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower(R) Adlai Stevenson(D) 457:73

1960 John F. Kennedy(D) Richard Nixon(R) 303:219

1964 Lyndon B. Johnson(D) Barry Goldwater(R) 486:52

1968 Richard Nixon (R) Hubert Humphrey (D) 301:191

1972 Richard Nixon(R) George McGovern (D) 520:17

1976 Jimmy Carter (D) Gerald Ford (R) 297:240

1980 Ronald Reagan(R) Jimmy Carter(D) 489:49

1984 Ronald Reagan(R) Walter Mondale(D) 525:13

1988 George H. W. Bush (R) Michael Dukakis(D) 426:111

1992 Bill Clinton(D) George H. W. Bush(R) 370:168

1996 Bill Clinton(D) Bob Dole(R) 379:159

2000 George W. Bush (R) Al Gore (D) 271:266

2004 George W. Bush (R) John Kerry(D) 286:252

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2008)