--- description: Donald Trump is threatening to make history—in an unfortunate way—by refusing to concede if he loses on Election Night. title: Watch a Brief History of Presidential Concession Speeches image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dd618ab1df4f3d2/6988aaf68e06014119467efd/concession-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch a Brief History of Presidential Concession Speeches by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 8:38 PM CUT  Photo composite by TIME by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 8:38 PM CUT Donald Trump is threatening to [make history](http://time.com/4538700/election-concession-history-donald-trump/ "undefined")—in an unfortunate way—by refusing to concede if he loses on Election Night. In recent weeks, the Republican presidential nominee has claimed without evidence that the election will somehow be rigged against him. Pressed on the issue at the [final presidential debate](http://time.com/4535247/presidential-debate-final-transcript/ "undefined") Wednesday, he said that he would keep the American people [“in suspense”](http://time.com/4537908/donald-trump-election-results/ "undefined") on what he’ll do Election Night. On Thursday, he [doubled down on that statement](http://time.com/4538855/donald-trump-election-results-recount/ "undefined"). “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election— if I win,” he said at a rally in Ohio. Here’s a video of televised concession speeches from every presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1960. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4539461/presidential-concession-speeches-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4539461/presidential-concession-speeches-video/"},"headline":"Watch a Brief History of Presidential Concession Speeches","datePublished":"2016-10-20T20:38:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:19:16.276Z","description":"Donald Trump is threatening to make history—in an unfortunate way—by refusing to concede if he loses on Election Night.","url":"https://time.com/4539461/presidential-concession-speeches-video/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","History","politics","Voting","mitt romney","John F. Kerry","Richard Nixon","John McCain","Jimmy Carter","Al Gore","George H.W. Bush","Gerald Ford"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dd618ab1df4f3d2/6988aaf68e06014119467efd/concession-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dd618ab1df4f3d2/6988aaf68e06014119467efd/concession-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"concession-copy","caption":"","creditText":"Photo composite by TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4539461/presidential-concession-speeches-video/","name":"Watch a Brief History of Presidential Concession Speeches"}}]}] ```