Franklin Pierce won the presidency on November 2, 1852, in a devastating landslide with 254 electoral votes to Winfield Scott’s 42, as divisions within the Whig Party over slavery enforcement came to a catastrophic head. Pierce ran as a pro-slavery Northern Democrat—a “doughface” …
Franklin PierceWinfield ScottDemocratic PartyWhig Partyinstitutional-captureslave-powerparty-realignmentdemocratic-erosionelectoral-politics
The 1848 presidential election takes place in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War and intense debates over the extension of slavery into the Mexican Cession. After both the Whig Party and the Democratic Party nominate presidential candidates who are unwilling to rule out the extension of …
Martin Van BurenFree Soil PartyDemocratic PartyWhig PartyLewis Cass+1 morefree-soil-partyantislaverypolitical-realignmentsectional-conflictslavery-expansion
President James K. Polk presented Congress with a war message on May 11, 1846, claiming that Mexico “has at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil” after Mexican forces killed or wounded 16 U.S. soldiers in disputed territory between the …
James K. PolkZachary TaylorU.S. CongressAbraham LincolnWhig Partyinstitutional-capturepolitical-deceptionexecutive-overreachterritorial-expansionslave-power
The Whig congressional caucus expelled President John Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841, after he vetoed national bank legislation for the second time in August, revealing that one of the main political principles guiding him was states’ rights ideology and protection of slavery …
John TylerHenry ClayWhig PartyCabinet Membersinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionexecutive-overreachparty-realignmentstates-rights
William Henry Harrison defeated incumbent President Martin Van Buren in the 1840 election, winning 234 of 294 electoral votes through what would become known as the first modern image-based political campaign. When a Democratic newspaper mockingly suggested giving Harrison “a barrel of hard …
William Henry HarrisonMartin Van BurenWhig PartyCharles Oglepolitical-deceptionelectoral-fraudmedia-manipulationsystematic-corruptiondemocratic-erosion