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Sixteenth American presidential election of 1848

Cg-realms (current)AndyHogan14 (original), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Date

The 1848 election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 1848. It was the first election that took place on one single day throughout the nation.

Candidates

• Democratic Party

• President
  • Lewis Cass, winner
  • James Buchanan
• Vice President
  • William Butler, winner
  • John Quitman

• Whig Party

• President
  • Zachary Taylor, winner
  • Henry Clay
  • Daniel Webster
  • Winfield Scott
• Vice President
  • Millard Fillmore, winner
  • Abbott Lawrence

• Free Soil Party

• President
  • Martin Van Buren, winner
  • John P. Hale
• Vice President
  • Charles Adams, winner

Final tickets

• Democratic Party

• Lewis Cass (P) & William Butler (VP)

• Whig Party

• Zachary Taylor (P) & Millard Fillmore (VP)

• Free Soil Party

• Martin Van Buren (P) & Charles Adams (VP)

Campaining & major issues

President James Polk was a popular president but had promised to only serve one term. He was able to get half of Oregon and get a huge amount of land in the south-west from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The Whigs had initially criticized the war, but in the election had to support it as Zachary Taylor was widely known for being a military general in it. However, he hadn't even voted in an election and wasn't political. His popularity wasn't because he was a Whig, but because he was a war hero. There wasn't huge campaining in 1848 because there weren't any big issues.

Electoral college & turn-out

The electoral college grew to 290 votes; 146 needed to win. 2,879,184 people voted in this election.

Results

First place (winner): Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore

163/290 electoral votes

47.28% of the popular vote

Second place: Lewis Cass & William Butler

127/290 electoral votes

42.49% of the popular vote

Third place: Martin Van Buren & Charles Adams

No electoral votes

10.12% of the popular vote

Other attributions (listed from top to bottom)

Nathaniel Currier firm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

N. Currier (firm), New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Nathaniel Currier firm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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