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296 members of the Electoral College 149 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 69.5% ▼ 3.3 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map. Yellow denotes states won by Scott/Douglas and blue denotes those won by Pierce/King. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1852 United States presidential election was the 17th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1852. Whig nominee General Winfield Scott defeated Democrat Franklin Pierce.
General Zachary Taylor had come to the presidency in 1849. Taylor endorsed the Compromise of 1850 and its Fugitive Slave Law. This earned Taylor some Southern voter support and Northern voter opposition, as well as Northern voter support and Southern voter opposition, though he did not run for a second term. Scott won the nomination following the dropout of former vice president Henry Seward and death of former vice president Daniel Webster. Democrats divided among four major candidates at the 1852 Democratic National Convention. On the 49th ballot, dark horse candidate Franklin Pierce won nomination by consensus compromise.
With few policy differences between the two major candidates, the election became a personality contest. Though Scott had commanded in the Mexican–American War, Pierce also served. Scott strained Whig Party unity as his anti-slavery reputation gravely damaged his campaign in the South, but he made up for it with his vice presidential pick being Illinois Democrat Stephen Douglas.
Pierce and running mate DeVane King won a comfortable popular majority, carrying 16 of the 31 states. Anti-slavery Whigs and Free Soilers, a third party based on anti-slavery, would ultimately coalesce into the new Republican Party, which would quickly become a formidable movement in the free states.
Nominations[]
Whig Primary[]
Candidates[]
Nominee[]
| Candidate | Born | Home state | Most recent position | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
June 13, 1786 (age 66)
Petersburg, Virginia, U.S. |
New Jersey | 3rd Commanding General of the United States Army | VT, MA, RI, DE, MD, VA, NC, GA, TN, KY, OH, IN, IL, IA, LA |
Withdrew or Died during the Primaries[]
| Candidate | Born | Home state | Most recent position | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
November 24, 1784 (aged 67)
Barboursville, Virginia, U.S. |
Louisiana | 12th President of the United States | None |
Daniel Webster |
January 18, 1782
Salisbury, New Hampshire, U.S. |
Massachusetts | 14th and 19th Secretary of State | Died October 24, 1852 (aged 70) |
Whig Primary[]
Candidates[]
Nominee[]
| Candidate | Born | Home state | Most recent position | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
November 23, 1804 (age 47)
Hillsborough, New Hampshire, U.S. |
New Hampshire | Senator of New Hampshire | ME, NH, CT, NY, PA, NJ, GA, FL, AL, MI, AK, MO, MI, WI, TX, CA |
Withdrew or Lost during the Primaries[]
| Candidate | Born | Home state | Most recent position | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis Cass |
October 9, 1782 (age 70)
Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S. |
Michigan | Senator of Michigan | None |
James Buchanan |
April 23, 1791 (age 61)
Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Pennsylvania | 17th Secretary of State | None |
William Marcy |
December 12, 1786 (age 65)
Southbridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
New Yorm | 20th Secretary of War | None |
Chosen as vice during the primaries[]
| Candidate | Born | Home state | Most recent position | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stephen Douglas |
April 23, 1813 (age 39)
Brandon, Vermont, U.S. |
Illinois | Senator of Illinois | None |
Election[]
When American voters went to the polls, Scott won the electoral college in a close vote, though Pierce won a majority of the key states. In the popular vote, while Scott outpolled Pierce by roughly 100,000 votes, Pierce carried 16 states as opposed to the close margin brought upon by Scott's 15. Scott's presidency is what kept the Whigs together, though after the diving presidency of Taylor, the Whigs continued to quarrel in constant inhouse fighting until they eventually went their separate ways - the Republican Party emerged out of a majority of the remaining Whigs, and so began the Democratic-dominated South and Republican-dominated North.