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The U.S. presidential election of 1852 was in many ways a replay of the election of 1844. Once again, the incumbent President was a Whig who had succeeded to the presidency upon the death of his war hero predecessor; in this case, it was Millard Fillmore who followed General Zachary Taylor. Once again, the Whig party would pass over the incumbent for nomination — this time, casting aside Fillmore in favor of General Winfield Scott. Once again, the Democrats would nominate a "dark horse" candidate, this time Franklin Pierce. Once again, the Whigs would campaign on the obscurity of the Democratic candidate, and once again, this strategy failed.
Pierce and running mate William King would go on to win what was at the time one of the nation's largest electoral victories, trouncing Scott and his vice presidential nominee, William Graham of North Carolina, 254 electoral votes to 42.
Nominations
Whig Party nomination
The Whigs, seeking the second coming of Zachary Taylor, pushed aside President Fillmore in a 159-133 delegate vote on the 53rd ballot, selecting another Mexican War general with a heroic record, General Winfield Scott of Virginia. Scott had earned the nickname of "Old Fuss and Feathers" due to his insistence on military appearance and discipline, and while respected, was also seen by the people as somewhat foppish. William Alexander Graham was chosen as the Vice Presidential nominee with no substantive opposition.Democratic Party nomination
The Democrats anticipated a loss in the general election and had no consensus on who their candidate should be. 1848 nominee Lewis Cass, James Buchanan, William Marcy, and Stephen Douglas all had substantial support. On the 49th ballot the convention finally nominated, as a compromise candidate, the virtually unknown Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. Pierce was a former Congressman and Senator. William R. King of Alabama was tapped for Vice President.General election
Campaign
The Whigs' platform was almost indistinguishable from that of the Democrats, reducing the campaign to a contest between the personalities of the two candidates. This helped drive down electoral turnout to its lowest level since 1836. The decline was further exacerbated by Scott's anti-slavery reputation, which decimated the Southern Whig vote at the same time as the pro-slavery Whig platform undermined the Northern Whig vote.
Finally, Scott's status as a war hero was somewhat offset by the fact that Pierce was himself a Mexican War brigadier general, leading to an overwhelming defeat for Scott, who won only the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
Results
Source (Popular Vote):
Source (Electoral Vote):
(a) The popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.
Electoral college selection
Trivia
- The candidates for Vice President were both born in North Carolina and in fact both attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, albeit two decades apart. While there, they were members of opposing debate societies: the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Both also served in North Carolina politics: King was a representative from North Carolina before he moved to Alabama, and Graham was a governor of North Carolina.
See also
References
- Books Holt, Michael F. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. Oxford University Press, New York, New York: 1999.
- Web sites
External links
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"United States presidential election, 1852"