Election of 1840 Spin Succeeds Over Substance Text Credit: 2003 Teacher Fellows Candidates: William Henry Harrison, Whig (pictured), Martin Van Buren, Democrat, James G. Birney, Liberty Party C-SPAN Video Clip | Fun Fact | Historically Significant Elections Campaign Overview | Electoral Overview

CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW One of the first campaigns to use "spin" to promote a candidate, the election of l840 relied on image making and rhetoric as opposed to hard issues. Democrats re-nominated the incumbent Martin Van Buren whose presidency was beset with economic problems. The Whigs rejected party leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and united their support behind military hero and l834 candidate, William Henry Harrison. John Tyler, former governor of Virginia, who had also served in the U.S. House and Senate, was the Whigs' choice for vice president. Founded by those who opposed the extension of slavery, the Liberty Party made its first appearance in the l840 election with James G. Birney as its candidate. In the News In l840, the country was still recovering from financial panic, but economic issues did not dominate the presidential election. The anti-Jackson Whig Party, founded in l834, had finally gained enough political strength to mount a successful campaign for the White House. Africans captured from the Amistad slave ship remained in confinement as their civil trial continued in Connecticut. The nation's population increased due to immigration, and elections revealed sectional divisions that would become even more apparent as the decade wore on. Tactics/Strategy The election of l840 was lively entertainment. Songs, souvenirs, torchlight parades, buttons, and barbecues made this the first "modern political campaign." Hoping to broaden their candidate's mass appeal, Whigs distributed whiskey and hard cider in log cabin containers. New words became part of the American lexicon: "OK" from the Van Buren ("Old Knickerbocker") "OK clubs," and "keep the ball rolling," from a promotional stunt involving the rolling of a large ball emblazoned with campaign slogans. Whig strategy deliberately dodged issues, seeking instead to "Keep Harrison vague and Tyler quiet." Platforms The election of l840 stressed image over issues. Whigs were confident that the constituency would blame Van Buren for the Panic of l837. Personality and propaganda substituted for platform and the result was a colorful election that drew more people to the polls than ever before. Slogans Emphasizing Harrison's defeat of Tecumseh at the 1811 Battle of Tippicanoe, the Whigs inaugurated the slogan, "Tippicanoe and Tyler too." In addition, Whigs converted a Democratic insult into political advantage. Despite the fact that Harrison came from relative wealth, Whigs constructed the image of a man from humble beginnings and with simple tastes, coming from a "log cabin" and drinking "hard cider." Their attacks against Van Buren were summed up in the slogan, "Van, Van, Van/Van is a used-up man" and the epithet, "Martin Van Ruin."

ELECTORAL OVERVIEW The election of l840 saw unprecedented voter turnout. Whig campaign strategy effectively portrayed Van Buren as an out-of-touch aristocrat responsible for the country's financial ruin. Harrison won 53% (approximately 1,275,000) of the popular vote to Van Buren's 47% (approximately 1,128,000), launching the first of two Whig presidential victories. The incumbent Van Buren managed to carry only seven of twenty-six states in the Electoral College. Liberty Party candidate Birney received close to 7,000 popular votes and no electoral votes. However, this newly formed third party would gain momentum by the next election and establish an anti-slavery platform in local and national elections. Electoral College Results Harrison (Whig) 234 Van Buren (Democrat) 60 Birney (Liberty Party) 0 Aftermath Harrison's inaugural address, over an hour and a half, was the longest in U.S. history. He delivered some thirty pages of text in a cold rain. One month later, the president succumbed to pneumonia. John Tyler became the first vice president to succeed to the office because of the death of a president. In l842, after Tyler had vetoed a Whig-sponsored protective tariff, a House resolution called for his impeachment. The proposal failed, but party opposition kept Tyler from being re-nominated by the Whigs in the l844 election.