1840 United States presidential election

The **1840 United States presidential election** was the 14th election in the history of the United States. It occurred from October 30 to November 23, 1844. This election was between the Whig nominee, General and former Minister to Gran Colombia William Henry Harrison of Ohio, and the Democratic nominee, President Martin Van Buren of New York. Harrison won the election with 234 electoral votes. Van Buren got only 60 electoral votes.

Van Buren's loss in the election made him the third president in U.S. history and the first president outside of the Adams family (John Adams in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1828) to lose their re-election campaign. This election was also the third rematch in U.S. history, the first two being John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and Andrew Jackson & Henry Clay in 1832.

Harrison (as the winner of the election) would also be the oldest elected president in U.S. history at 67 years and 9 months, holding the record for 140 years until the election of Ronald Reagan to his first term in 1980 at 69 years and 8 months as well as being the last challenger to an incumbent President to win a majority of the vote until Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Van Buren would also be the last incumbent president until Abraham Lincoln in 1864 to win their party's nomination twice and the last incumbent president to lose their re-election campaign until Grover Cleveland in 1888.

This was also one of the few elections in U.S. history in which all the candidates in the party's primary would go on to later serve as their party's nominee (Clay in 1844 and Scott in 1852)

### Whig Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#F0DC82; width:200px;"|William Henry Harrison|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#F0DC82; width:200px;"|John Tyler|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**184**</big><big>**0 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***|
|U.S. Minister for Gran Columbia <small>(1829)</small>|U.S. Senator from Virginia<small>(1827-1836)</small>|||

#### Presidential

- William Henry Harrison, former U.S. Minister to Gran Colombia from Ohio <small>(1829) _(Nominee)_</small>
- Henry Clay, U.S. senator from Kentucky <small>(1806-1810, 1810-1811, 1831-1842) _(1844 Nominee)_</small>
- Winfield Scott, Commanding General of the U.S. Army from New Jersey <small>(1841-1861) _(1852 Nominee)_</small>

#### Vice Presidential

- John Tyler, former U.S. senator from Virginia <small>(1827-1836) _(Vice presidential nominee)_</small>

### Democratic Party

|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"|Martin Van Buren|style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"|None of the above|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="30" style="background:#f1f1f1;"|<big>**1840 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***|
|8th President of the United States <small>(1837–1841)</small>|N/A|||

## Infobox (election)

- **election name**: 1840 United States presidential election
- **type**: presidential
- **ongoing**: no
- **country**: United States
- **flag year**: 1837
- **previous election**: 1836 United States presidential election
- **previous year**: 1836
- **next election**: 1844 United States presidential election
- **next year**: 1844
- **needed votes**: 148 electoral
- **votes for election**: 294 members of the Electoral College (United States), Electoral College
- **image1**: William Henry Harrison crop.jpg
- **nominee1**: **William Henry Harrison**
- **home state1**: Ohio
- **running mate1**: **John Tyler**
- **electoral vote1**: **234**
- **states carried1**: **19**
- **popular vote1**: **1,275,390**
- **percentage1**: **52.9%**
- **party1**: Whig Party (United States)
- **image2**: Martin Van Buren circa 1837 crop.jpg
- **party2**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **nominee2**: Martin Van Buren
- **home state2**: New York (state), New York
- **running mate2**: _N/A_
- **electoral vote2**: 60
- **states carried2**: 7
- **popular vote2**: 1,128,854
- **percentage2**: 46.8%
- **turnout**: 72.8%  6.4 percentage point, pp
- **election date**: October 30 – November 23, 1840
- **image1 size**: 115px
- **image2 size**: 121px
- **map image**: ElectoralCollege1840.svg
- **map caption**: Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#f0c962;">Yellow</span> denotes states won by Harrison/Tyler and <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> by Van Buren. Numbers indicate the number of United States Electoral College, electoral votes cast by each state.
- **before election**: Martin Van Buren
- **before party**: Democratic Party (United States)
- **after election**: William Henry Harrison
- **after party**: Whig Party (United States)
- **title**: President
- **alliance1**: Anti-Masonic Party, Anti-Masonic