1. Ross Perot
Election: 1996
Party: Reform
Votes / Percentage: 8,085,402 / 8.40
Electoral votes / Total: 0 / 538
Running mate: Pat Choate
Election: 1992
Party: Independent
Votes / Percentage: 19,743,821 / 18.91
Electoral votes / Total: 0 / 538
Running mate: James Stockdale
The most successful third party presidential candidate in history is definitely Ross Perot. At one point during the 1992 presidential campaign, he polled at 39%, in front of both major parties candidates Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush. But his need to control every single aspect of the campaign soon led him to a confrontation with his campaign managers and things started going downhill for him. Still, he won almost 20 million votes, but due to US election system none of the elector votes. His second campaign in 1996 was far less successful, but in terms of popular vote numbers its campaign is still the 3rd most successful campaign by any third party candidate in history.
