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Whig Party in the Van Buren Administration
In the election of 1836, Martin Van Buren was elected President of the United States. Elections for the
Congress of 1837-1839 showed a significant shift in each chamber. The Democrats gained nine seats in the
evenly divided Senate to take control, but the Whigs gained 25 seats in the House to cut the Democratic lead
there from 70 seats to just 28. During the course of the 25th Congress, the Panic of 1837 undercut the
economic prosperity of the early 1830s, with disastrous consequences for the Democrats. When diplomatic
relations with England soured, President Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to the disputed northern
border of Maine to defend the American claims there. In the midterm elections of 1838-1839, the Whigs gained
five seats in the U.S. Senate and nine seats in the House. The Democrats maintained narrow control of both
chambers.
Pre-Convention Maneuvering
The Whig members of Congress assembled on 4/12/1838 to discuss the upcoming presidential election. They
agreed that the Whig Party should hold a national convention and avoid the tactic of supporting multiple
nominees, as the party tried in 1836. The Portsmouth Journal of 4/21/1838, stated that the "place is not yet fixed upon, but it is understood that Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania will
probably be the place of meeting. Each State represented will probably send a number of delegates equal to
the number of their Presidential Electors." With this announcement, the race for the Whig nomination was on.
The New Bedford Mercury reported on 2/8/1839 that the leading Whig contenders were Henry Clay and
William Henry Harrison. It reported that Daniel Webster, who had been interested in 1838, had dropped out of
the race. A factor in Harrison's favor was that he had the support of the steadily declining Anti-Masonic
Party, which was becoming assimilated into the Whigs in the northeast. Mississippi was one of the first
states to hold a state convention; it appointed delegates pledged to Henry Clay for President and John Tyler
for Vice President (New Bedford Mercury, 2/22/1839). The Sing Sing (NY) Hudson River chronicle
placed its choice slate on its masthead on 4/9/1839: Henry Clay for President and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge for
Vice President. Winfield Scott was being supported as early as 6/25/1839, when the Hudson River
Chronicle noted that the people who had opposed the election of Jackson on the basis of his being a
military leader were now supporting Scott, who was also a military leader.
The "southern" candidate for the vice presidency, former Gov. John Tyler of VA, was challenged in the press during the process of choosing national convention delegates. The Richmond Enquirer stated in an article that Tyler was a weak Whig, who was as likely to support Van Buren in 1840 as Clay. Tyler's response, printed in the Richmond Whig (copied by the New Bedford Mercury on 7/4/1839), stated "I have a decided preference for ... Clay over others who have been named." When the Virginia Whig State Convention met, however, it directed the Virginia delegation to support Clay and Tallmadge (New Bedford Mercury, 10/11/1839).
The National Convention
The first Whig National Convention was held in the Zion Lutheran Church Building in Harrisburg PA, which had
been recently completed. It was attended by 254 delegates representing 22 states, with no delegates present
from AR, GA, SC, and TN.
Temporary Chairman: Isaac C. Bates MA
Permanent Chairman: James
Barbour VA
On the first day of the convention, the roll of delegates was called. Two separate Pennsylvania
delegations were represented, but the two reached a compromise without convention action.
On 12/5/1839, the Committee on Permanent Organization reported. The first major piece of business was
taking up a letter from Arkansas Whigs, which directed Louisiana's delegates to cast its votes for Clay and
Tyler on the roll call votes. The convention voted against the request, and Arkansas lost its vote.
A Harrison delegate from Pennsylvania made a motion on the manner of nominating a candidate. He proposed that
delegates of each state caucus, and the candidate with the plurality of support would receive the entire vote
of the state. A majority of the vote of all states would suffice for nomination. A Clay delegate from New
York offered an amendment which would allow the votes of the minority faction in each state to be recorded.
William Henry Harrison was nominated for President on the fifth ballot. During the balloting, each state caucused in private; the candidate with the most support in a given state was granted that state's entire vote. On the first ballot, Clay led with 103 votes to 94 for Harrison and 57 for Scott. Clay won all Southern states, Illinois, and Rhode Island. Harrison won the bulk of the North, with New York, New Jersey, and Vermont voting for Scott. No state changed its vote on the second ballot. On the third ballot, two states shifted to Scott in a test of his strength. The fourth ballot had the same result as the third. Finally on the fifth ballot, MI, NY, and VT shifted from Scott to Harrison, giving him the nomination.
| Presidential Balloting, WNC 1840 |
| Contender: Ballot | 1st | 2d | 3d | 4th | 5th |
| William H. Harrison | 94 | 94 | 91 | 91 | 148 |
| Henry Clay | 103 | 103 | 95 | 95 | 90 |
| Winfield Scott | 57 | 57 | 68 | 68 | 16 |
In the image, the green states voted consistently for Harrison. The red states voted consistently for Clay, and Illinois (light red) switched from Clay to Harrison. The blue states voted for Scott, with the light blue states switching from Scott to Harrison.
The vice presidential ballot followed immediately after the presidential ballot. The convention nominated
John Tyler VA, a Clay delegate at the convention who had resigned from the U.S. Senate following a break with
President Jackson. In the roll call vote, Tyler was nominated without opposition, although his home state of
Virginia abstained from voting.
2d Whig National Convention (1844)
Popular Vote of 1840
Electoral Vote of 1840 | 
148 (46.40%)