1836 U.S. presidential election

In 1836 Vice President Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson's handpicked successor, won the presidency for the Democrats with 170 of 294 electoral votes and about 51 percent of the popular vote. The new Whig Party, rather than unite behind one man, ran several regional candidates: William Henry Harrison won 73 votes, Hugh Lawson White 26 and Daniel Webster 14, while South Carolina gave 11 to Willie Mangum. The Whigs hoped to deny Van Buren a majority and throw the election to the House, but the plan failed.¹²

The Whigs had formed in 1833 and 1834 out of opposition to 'King Andrew' and his war on the national bank, taking their name from the British party that resisted royal power. Van Buren, the builder of the Democratic Party machine, promised to continue Jackson's policies. The vice presidential race produced a first: Virginia's Democratic electors refused to vote for Richard Mentor Johnson, partly over his open relationship with an enslaved woman, leaving him one vote short of a majority, so the Senate chose him under the 12th Amendment. Two months after Van Buren's inauguration, the Panic of 1837 began and wrecked his presidency.¹²