Presidential Election of 1836

IN THE ELECTION of 1836, the Whig Party (formerly the National Republican Party) again tried to defeat the Andrew Jackson's Democrat Party in a presidential election. Unlike the previous two elections, Jackson had decided not to run again. Instead, the Democrats ran Martin Van Buren (Jackson's vice president), while the Whigs ran three different candidates because they could not come to a consensus. At this point, the Whig party was made up of groups that were anti-Jackson, but not necessarily friendly to each other. In the end, this cost them the election.

Although Jackson had decided not to run, he had not given up control of the Democratic Party. Thus, in 1835, when the party held its national convention in Baltimore, Jackson made it clear that he thought that Van Buren should be their candidate for president. The convention complied with Jackson's wishes and picked Van Buren as their candidate. Van Buren promised the convention that he would continue the work that Jackson had started during his two terms as president.

While the choice of a presidential candidate was easy, who to pick for vice president proved more difficult. It was thought that someone from the western United States would be a good choice. The final choice was Richard Mentor Johnson from Kentucky. He had fought in the War of 1812, avoided the Bank War, and made friends in the east among the working class. However, most southerners disliked him because he had a mulatto mistress with whom he had two daughters. The convention came under attack from its enemies because some states were not represented, including Tennessee. When it was determined that more votes to support what Jackson wanted were needed, a man from Tennessee was found and pressed into service as the Tennessee delegation. He, of course, voted as he was told, including supporting Johnson for vice president.

The Whig party, began in 1834, replaced the National Republican Party. They took their name from the English Whig Party that fought against the abuses by the English monarchy and the American Whigs of the Revolutionary War period. Many National Republicans had taken to calling Jackson King Andrew, and found it easy to use this association in their fight against Jackson. The party was made up of various anti-Jackson groups. In some cases, the various groups disliked each other almost as much as they disliked Jackson. The [Page 571]Whigs did not hold a national convention, and instead of trying to find one candidate they could all agree on, they picked three different candidates, each with strong regional support. The idea was not to win the election, but to keep Van Buren from gaining a majority of the Electoral College. This would then send the top three candidates before the House of Representatives, who would get to pick the president. The Whigs figured they could more easily unite the party in the House than in the general election.

The three Whig candidates were Senator Daniel Webster, Senator Hugh L. White, and William Henry Harrison. Webster, from Massachusetts, had strong support in New England and with the Anti-Masonic Party; White, from Tennessee, supported states' rights and had support in the south; Harrison, a general during the War of 1812 and against the Native Americans, had strong support in the west and from the anti-Indian vote. Harrison ended up being the strongest of the three candidates.

...