1836 United States presidential election

The 1836 United States presidential election was the 13th election in the history of the United States. It occurred on November 4 to December 6, 1836.

This election was a five-way race between the Democratic nominee, Vice President Martin Van Buren of New York and the four Whig nominees, those being General and former Minister to Gran Colombia William Henry Harrison of Ohio, Senator Hugh L. White of Tennessee, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Willie P. Mangum of North Carolina. Van Buren won the election with 170 electoral votes, while Harrison got 73 electoral votes, White got 26 electoral votes, Webster got 14 electoral votes, and Mangum got 11 electoral votes.

While Van Buren won 170 electoral votes (22 more then needed to win), no vice presidential nominee won the required 148 electoral votes needed to become Vice President, as there were three nominees for VP, those being Congressman Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky, Congressman Francis Granger of New York, and former Senator John Tyler of Virginia.

However, the final results would show that the 23 members of the electoral college from Virginia would not vote for Johnson, instead voting for former Senator William Smith of South Carolina due to dissent from the electors related to Johnson's interracial relationship with a slave.

Due to this, the final results for the vice-presidential candidates would be that Johnson would get 147 electoral votes, while Granger would get 77 electoral votes, Tyler would get 47 electoral votes, and Smith would get 23 electoral votes. Thus, under the 12th amendment, the U.S. senate would meet on February 8, 1837 and would elect Johnson as VP in a 33-16 vote.

Van Buren would be the third incumbent vice president in U.S. history to win the presidency (after John Adams in 1796 and Thomas Jefferson in 1800) and would be the last VP to achieve this until the election of George H. W. Bush in 1988. Van Buren and Harrison would both run against each other again in 1840, and Harrison would be elected as the 9th President. 

Van Buren is also the most recent Democrat in U.S. history to replace a two-term Democratic president, and the only incumbent Democratic vice president to win the presidency. This also marks the last time that a sitting vice president was elected president after only serving for one term.

 Nominations 

 Democratic Party 
1836 Democratic Party ticketfor Presidentfor Vice Presidentcenter|200x200pxcenter|200x200px8thVice President of the United States(1833–1837)U.S. Representativefrom Kentucky(1807–1819, 1829–1837)

 Presidential 

 Martin Van Buren, 8th Vice President of the United States (1833–1837) (Nominee)

 Vice Presidential 

 Richard Mentor Johnson, U.S. Representative from Kentucky (1807–1819, 1829–1837) (Vice presidential nominee)
 William C. Rives, U.S. senator from Virginia (1832-1834, 1836-1839)

 Whig Party 
1836 Whig Party ticketfor Presidentfor Vice Presidentcenter|200x200pxcenter|200x200pxU.S. Minister for Gran Columbia(1829)U.S. Representativefrom New York(1835-1837, 1839-1841, 1841-1843)
1836 Whig Party ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President200x200pxcenter|200x200pxU.S. Senatorfrom Tennessee(1825-1840)U.S. Senatorfrom Virginia(1827-1836)
1836 Whig Party ticketfor Presidentfor Vice Presidentcenter|200x200pxcenter|200x200pxU.S. Senatorfrom Massachusetts(1827-1841)U.S. Representativefrom New York(1835-1837, 1839-1841, 1841-1843)

1836 Whig Party ticket200x200pxcenter|200x200pxU.S. Senatorfrom North Carolina(1831-1840, 1840-1853)U.S. Senatorfrom Virginia(1827-1836)
 Notes 

 References