France’s First Presidential Election

In 1848, after the third French Revolution led to the exile of the third and last King (post French Revolution and Napoleon era), the people of France at last were going to vote to choose their very first President!
One candidate was unknown to the French, save for his surname. The reason being, his family was exiled from France in 1815 when his uncle Napoleon I had been defeated and the monarchs of Europe restored the Bourbon monarchy in France regardless of what French people may have wanted…

So Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, ran for the presidency. And while the population knew little of him, his last name stirred strong memories! The result of the election was loud and clear: 74% of the votes!
Never again in the history of the French Presidency has ever any other man been elected on the first round with that kind of a score.