<P> New York Times presidential endorsements are made every four years by The New York Times to give its readers the name of the candidate that the paper's editors believe is best suited to fit the needs of the nation . The first endorsement was in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln and the most recent one was for Hillary Clinton in 2016 . 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 26 times, the Republican six times (the last being Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956), and a third - party candidate once (in 1896). </P> <P> Republican winner in RED, Democratic winner in BLUE </P>

When was the last time the new york times endorsed a republican for president