The election of 1840 has been called the first modern political campaign because of the way image and merchandising were employed. The Democrats nominated President Martin Van Buren, whom many Americans blamed for the economic problems associated with the panic of 1837. They officially chose no running mate owing to the unpopularity of incumbent Richard Johnson, but party regulars supported him as the candidate anyway.
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William Henry Harrison is born, 1773
On this day in 1773, future President William Henry Harrison is born on the Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. Harrison went on to serve as the ninth U.S.…
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Aware that Van Buren's problems gave them a good chance for victory, the Whigs rejected the candidacy of Henry Clay, their most prominent leader, because of his support for the unpopular Second Bank of the United States. Instead, stealing a page from the Democratic emphasis on Andrew Jackson's military exploits, they chose William Henry Harrison, a hero of early Indian wars and the War of 1812. The Whig vice-presidential nominee was John Tyler, a onetime Democrat who had broken with Jackson over his veto of the bill rechartering the Second Bank.
Studiously avoiding divisive issues like the Bank and internal improvements, the Whigs depicted Harrison as living in a "log cabin" and drinking "hard cider." They used slogans like "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and "Van, Van, Van/Van is a used-up man" to stir voters. Harrison won by a popular vote of 1,275,612 to 1,130,033, and an electoral margin of 234 to 60. But the victory proved to be a hollow one because Harrison died one month after his inauguration. Tyler, his successor, would not accept Whig economic doctrine, and the change in presidential politics had little effect on presidential policy.
The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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