1852 United States presidential election

The **1852 United States presidential election** was the 17th election in the history of the United States. It occurred on November 2, 1852. This election was between the Democratic nominee, Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire and the Whig nominee, Commanding General of the US Army Winfield Scott of New Jersey. Pierce won the election with 254 electoral votes. Scott got only 42 electoral votes.

This was the last election to put up a Whig nominee as they broke up in 1854 and was replaced by the Republican Party

### Democratic Party

The Democratic Party selected Franklin Pierce, the former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire as their nominee. Pierce was not a well known politician. William R. King, the U.S. senator from Alabama, was selected as Pierce's running mate.
|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"|Franklin Pierce|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"|William R. King|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1852 Democratic Party ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|U.S. Senator from New Hampshire <small>(1837-1842)</small>|U.S. Senator from Alabama <small>(1819–1844, 1848–1852)</small>|||

##### Dark horse candidates

- Franklin Pierce, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire <small>(1837-1842) _(nominee)_</small>
- Henry C. Murphy, former Congressman from New York <small>(1843-1845, 1847-1849)</small>

##### Major candidates

- Lewis Cass, U.S. Senator from Michigan <small>(1845-1848, 1849-1857) _(1848 nominee)_</small>
- James Buchanan, 17th United States Secretary of State from Pennsylvania <small>(1845-1849) _(1856 Nominee) (Later became POTUS in 1857)_</small>
- William L. Marcy, 21st United States Secretary of State from New York <small>(1853-1857)</small>
- Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illionis <small>(1847-1861) _(_</small><small>_1860 Northern Democratic Nominee)_</small>

##### Minor candidates

- William O. Butler, former Congressman from Kentucky <small>(1839-1843) _(1848 VP Nominee)_</small>
- Joseph Lane, house delegate from the Oregon Territory <small>(18</small><small>51-1859) _(1860 Southern Democratic VP Nominee)_</small>
- Sam Houston, U.S. Senator from Texas <small>(18</small><small>46-1859)</small> and 1st & 3rd President of the Republic of Texas <small>(18</small><small>36-1838, 1841-1844)</small>
- Henry Dodge, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin <small>(18</small><small>48-1857)</small>
- Daniel S. Dickerson, former U.S. Senator from New York <small>(1844-1851) _(declined)_</small>

#### Vice Presidential

- William R. King, U.S. Senator from Alabama <small>(1819–1844, 1848–1852)</small> <small>_(Vice presidential nominee)_</small>
- Solomon W. Downs, U.S. Senator from Alabama <small>(1847-1853)</small>
- John B. Weller, U.S. Senator from California <small>(1852-1857)</small>
- David Rice Atchison, U.S. Senator from Missouri <small>(18</small><small>43-1855) _(President for one day from Mar. 4-5, 1849)_</small>
- Gideon J. Pillow, Major General of the U.S. Army <small>(1848-1861)</small>
- Robert Strange, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina <small>(1836-1840)</small>
- William O. Butler, former Congressman from Kentucky <small>(1839-1843) _(1848 VP Nominee) (Declined)_</small>
- Thomas J. Rusk, U.S. Senator from Texas <small>(18</small><small>46-185</small><small>7</small><small>) _(Declined)_</small>
- Jefferson Davis, U.S. Senator from Mississippi <small>(1847-1851, 1857-1861)</small> _<small>(Declined)</small>_
- Howell Cobb, 40th Governor of Georgia <small>(1851-1853)</small> _<small>(Declined)</small>_

### Whig Party

The incumbent president was Millard Fillmore, who succeeded Zachary Taylor as president after Taylor's death in July 1850. Fillmore was associated with Whig Party. Fillmore did not get the nomination again. Instead, the Whigs chose General Winfield Scott of New Jersey.

This happened because Fillmore strongly enforced the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which caused many Northern Whigs to turn against him. As a result, Fillmore became the first U.S. president to lose his party’s nomination for another term.

He was also the first of five presidents to face this. The others were Franklin Pierce in 1856, James Buchanan in 1860, Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Chester A. Arthur in 1884.
|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#F0DC82; width:200px;"|Winfield Scott|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#F0DC82; width:200px;"||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1852 Whig Party ticket**</big>|||
|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:lightyellow; width:200px;"|***for President***|style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:lightyellow; width:200px;"|***for Vice President***|
|3rd Commanding General of the U.S. Army <small>(1841–1861)</small>|20th Secretary of the Navy <small>(1850–1852)</small>|||

#### Presidential

- Winfield Scott, Commanding General of the U.S. Army from New Jersey <small>(1841-1861) _(nominee)_</small>
- Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States from New York <small>(1850-1853)</small>
- Daniel Webster, 14th & 19th United States Secretary of State from Massachusetts <small>(1841, 1850-1852) _(1836 Whig Nominee)_</small>

#### Vice Presidential

- William A. Graham, 30th Governor of North Carolina <small>(1845-1849) _(Vice presidential nominee)_</small>
- James Pierce, U.S. Senator from Maryland <small>(1843-1862)</small>
- Edward Bates, former Congressman from Missouri <small>(1827-1829)</small>
- John W. Crockett, former Congressman from Tennessee <small>(1837-1841) _(Son of former Congressman David "Davy" Crockett)_</small>

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1852 United States presidential election
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **country**: United States
- **flag year**: 1851
- **previous election**: 1848 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1848
- **next election**: 1856 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1856
- **needed votes**: 149 electoral
- **votes for election**: 296 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **image1**: Mathew Brady - Franklin Pierce (cropped).jpg
- **nominee1**: **Franklin Pierce**
- **home state1**: New Hampshire
- **running mate1**: **William R. King**
- **electoral vote1**: **254**
- **states carried1**: **27**
- **popular vote1**: **1,604,167**
- **percentage1**: **50.8%**
- **party1**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **image2**: Winfield Scott by Fredricks, 1862 (cropped).jpg
- **party2**: Whig Party (United States)
- **nominee2**: Winfield Scott
- **home state2**: New Jersey
- **running mate2**: William A. Graham
- **electoral vote2**: 42
- **states carried2**: 4
- **popular vote2**: 1,385,255
- **percentage2**: 43.9%
- **turnout**: 69.5%  3.3 percentage point, pp
- **election date**: November 2, 1852
- **image1 size**: 149px
- **image2 size**: 149px
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1852.svg
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> denotes states won by Pierce/King and <span style="color:#f0c962;">Yellow</span> by Scott/Graham. Numbers indicate the number of United States Electoral College, electoral votes cast by each state.