Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky was favored to win the presidential nomination. But he was opposed by William Henry Harrison and Winfield Scott. (Both Harrison and Scott were military heroes.) Clay was a Mason. The Anti-Masons opposed his nomination. Harrison was the compromise nominee.
Harrison won 148 votes. Clay won 90 votes. Scott won 16 votes. The Whigs nominated JOHN TYLER for vice president.
The Democrats
The Democrats renominated President MARTIN VAN BUREN. But they could not agree on a vice presidential nominee. Van Buren wanted Vice President Richard Johnson renominated. But former president ANDREW JACKSON favored JAMES POLK. To avoid offending Jackson, the Democrats did not nominate a candidate for vice president.
The General Election Campaign
During the fall campaign, President Van Buren remained in the White House. He limited his activity to issuing policy papers. Harrison's supporters organized the first modern presidential campaign.
The Harrison organization held mass rallies. They had campaign songs. They created an image for their candidate by using a campaign symbol. The symbol was the "log cabin." The Harrison camp also made the most of their candidate's military record. Their campaign slogan was "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." They reminded voters of Harrison's victory over the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
The Harrison organization invented the strategy of negative campaigning. (That is, they highlighted the opposition's weaknesses.) They posted pictures portraying Van Buren as a glutton. He was pictured with expensive White House china. The Harrison camp wanted voters to believe the president had grown "fat" in his office.
The Election Results
Harrison defeated Van Buren by more than 140,000 votes. He won 234 electoral votes and carried 19 states. Van Buren won 60 electoral votes and carried 7 states. Birney won fewer than 10,000 popular votes. He did not win any electoral votes.
WILLIAM HARRISON'S VICE PRESIDENT(S)
FIRST ADMINISTRATION (MAR. 4, 1841- APR. 4, 1841):
