Election of 1836: The Democrats. The Whigs, and Jackson’s Passing of the Torch
Democratic Party: Martin Van Buren (New York) and Richard Johnson (Kentucky)
Whig Party: (regional Whig candidates only)
William Henry Harrison (Ohio) and Frances Granger (New York) (Western region)
Hugh White (Tennessee) and John Tyler (Virginia) (Southern region)
Daniel Webster (Massachusetts) and Frances Granger (New York) (Northern region)
Election Results:
Van Buren/Johnson: 170 electoral votes, 764,000 popular votes
Harrison/Granger: 73 electoral votes, 550,000 popular votes
White/Tyler: 26 electoral votes, 146,000 popular votes
Webster/Granger: 14 electoral votes, 41,000 popular votes
(11 electoral votes were cast by South Carolina delegates in protest of the Democratic ticket, because of Andrew Jackson’s battle with South Carolina over the nullification issue)
Summary:
The Jackson administration had been successful in striking blows for the American public, most notably in the destruction of the Bank of the United States. The Bank issue, which revolved around the centralization of national financial issues, proved to be a successful demonstration of Jackson’s populist attitude. But the less publicized actions at the end of the Jackson presidency are more interesting. Jackson chose his successor, Democratic party regular Martin Van Buren, two years before his second term was up. As well, Jackson was an unabashed use of the spoils system to reward Democratic activists, once remarking that “if there is a job that a Democrat can’t do, then let’s get rid of that job.” Opponents of Jackson saw this as hypocrisy, considering Jackson’s criticism of his predecessor John Quincy Adams was that he was an elitist and a monarchist. Nonetheless, Van Buren received unanimous nomination in the 1836 nominating convention and ran a presidential campaign based on continuation of Jacksonian principles.
The Whig Party, similar to the Democratic Party’s rise a decade earlier, centered around protesting the sitting president’s policies. According to Whig activist, Jackson’s presidency was marred by an over-extension of executive authority and the infusion of his attitude into the highest office in America. However, the Whigs and disaffected Democrats were not organized enough to create a nominating convention or an organized schedule of events. Instead, three regional candidates were put up under the Whig banner in order to attack Jackson’s broad support. Former general William Henry Harrison, Senator Hugh White of Tennessee, and Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster were put on the ballot to take votes away from Jackson in the West, South, and Northeast respectively. Their campaign rhetoric attacked Van Buren as a party hack and promised limitations on the strength of the presidency.
The Whig strategy to weaken Jackson would have worked if they were able to find a candidate that would challenge the Democrats’ widespread popularity. Instead, Van Buren was able to use his strong personality, Jackson’s popularity, and the powerful Democratic organization to win by a slimmer than hoped margin. Indeed, the Whig’s short term goals of removing Jackson’s influence from the White House failed but the long term development of their organization took off over the next four years. Van Buren’s margin of victory was slimmer than Jackson’s in 1832, Democrats across the country faced stronger challenges than in years past, and Van Buren lost important Southern support in Georgia and Tennessee. The Whig Party would become a significant force in the 1840s and early 1850s due to the failure of the Van Buren administration.
