A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1848

The election of 1848 was open after Polk kept his promise not to re-seek office after just one-term. Zachary Taylor was the war hero and general during the Mexican-American war, and was sought out by both parties to run. The Whigs managed to get him to come their side.

The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, a senator from Michigan. 

Former President Martin Van Buren was at it again, and sought another term. Except this time he ran on a 3rd party ticket. He ran on the Free Soil platform which opposed slavery in the expanding west. 

Also to note is that Van Buren's running mate was Charles Francis Adams who was the grandson of John Adams, and son of John Quincey Adams. The Free Soil party received no electoral votes. 

The Whigs and Democrats attacked each other with the same old rhetoric since this was an open election. It's hard to verbally-attack a president that's not running again. However Taylor's popularity as a war hero gave him a victory over Cass. Taylor beat Cass 163-127 with them winning 15 states each. Taylor managed to get the ones that were worth more.

A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1844

 Even though Harrison managed to beat Van Buren in a impressive election last time, he died shortly after taking office. His vice president John Tyler became president after that. Except he wasn't very popular and dropped out of the general election.

Democrats then threw their support to James K. Polk, the former Governor of Tennessee. 

Martin Van Buren tried to get the Democratic nomination, but failed in the long-run to Polk.  Though pretty rare for a former president to seek a nomination after losing.

Senator Henry Clay once again tried to become president by becoming the Whig candidate.  The main issue of the campaign was the issue of Western expansion and the annexation of Texas. Which Polk supported, and Clay had a weak stance on.

Despite a rather odd primary, the general election was rather bland and unbiased in comparison to recent elections. Therefore it was rather half and half. The popular vote was close between Polk, and Clay, however Polk had the obvious edge in the electoral vote. Polk beat Clay 170-105.

A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1836

Jackson decided to retire after 2 terms, so Vice President Martin Van Buren decided to run as a Democrat. 

By this time the Whig Party had formed, and they had a interesting strategy for this election. They elected two nominees, the first being William Henry Harrison. Harrison was suppose to defeat Van Buren in the Northern States. 

While Hugh Lawson White was suppose to defeat Van Buren in the Southern States. The Whig Party would then pick the better of the two if Van Buren lost. Daniel Webster and Willie Person Magnum took a state each as a presidential candidate. They campaigned hard against Van Buren and even upset the Senate in which he was in charge of.

Because of the bizarre nominee practice, the Vice President race was thrown into the Senate. Richard M. Johnson got the most, but not the up-most majority.

 Despite that, Johnson was easily elected in the Senate versus Whig Francis Granger.

The odd strategy proved to be an easy victory for Van Buren. A split Whig vote left him 170 electoral votes versus Harrison's 73, White's 26, Webster's 14, and Magnum's 11.