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The 1844 election took place from Friday, November 1 - Wednesday, December 4, 1844. It was the last election that took place for several days.
Just one month after William Henry Harrison became president, he died. He was the first president to die and served the shortest presidency in history. His vice president, John Tyler, was unpopular with both the Whig party and the Democratic Party. He tried to run in this election but dropped out and supported James Polk. The big issue was over the Texas Annexation. Polk believed in "Manifest Destiny", the belief that America should expand whenever and wherever possible. However, Henry Clay was against it, and he thought he was more popular as he was supported by Northerners who didn't want slavery to expand into Texas and southerners who thought the new state would make their slaves less valuable. Polk is known as being the first notable Dark Horse candidate, meaning that before the election, he wasn't well known.
The electoral college decreased to 275 electoral votes; 138 needed to win. 2,703,659 people voted.
170/275 electoral votes
49.54% of the popular vote
105/275 electoral votes
48.08% of the popular vote
No electoral votes
2.3% of the popular vote
Democratic banner: Nathaniel Currier firm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Whig banner: Nathaniel Currier, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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