1836  1840 Presidential Election Returns  1844

President Martin Van Buren faced a loss of popularity after the country suffered an economic depression known as the Panic of 1837. The other problem Van Buren faced was a unified Whig Party, which put its support behind retired General William Henry Harrison from Ohio. He ran as a war hero and someone who was favorable to the common person. Van Buren came across as an elitist who did not care about the common person and did not live up to the reputation of Andrew Jackson. Harrison's campaign was spent casting Van Buren as an enemy of the common man and Harrison was from modest beginnings. (The opposite was actually true!) The Whig Party did not have a set of issues on which they campaigned in the election of 1840. So they focused on the failures of Van Buren. Harrison was also one of the first candidates to vigorously campaign. This may account for the election day turnout of 80 percent of registered voters! Harrison was elected, but only served one month in office. After developing pneumonia at his inauguration, he would die one month later. His Vice-President, John Tyler, assumed office. UNITED STATES VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Harrison/Tyler 1,275,583 53 234 Van Buren* 1,129,645 47 60 Birney/Earle 6,797 0 0 All Other Candidates 767 0 0 ALABAMA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 33,996 54 7 Harrison/Tyler 28,515 46 0 ARKANSAS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 6,679 56 3 Harrison/Tyler 5,160 44 0 CONNECTICUT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 25,281 44 0 Harrison/Tyler 31,598 56 8 DELAWARE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 4,872 45 0 Harrison/Tyler 5,967 55 3 GEORGIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 31,983 44 0 Harrison/Tyler 40,339 56 11 ILLINOIS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 47,441 51 5 Harrison/Tyler 45,574 49 0 INDIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 51,604 44 0 Harrison/Tyler 65,302 56 9 KENTUCKY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 32,616 36 0 Harrison/Tyler 58,488 64 15 LOUISIANA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 7,616 40 0 Harrison/Tyler 11,296 59 5 MAINE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 46,190 50 0 Harrison/Tyler 46,612 50 10 MARYLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 28,752 46 0 Harrison/Tyler 33,528 54 10 MASSACHUSETTS VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 52,355 41 0 Harrison/Tyler 72,852 57 14 MICHIGAN VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 21,096 48 0 Harrison/Tyler 22,933 52 3 MISSISSIPPI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 17,010 47 0 Harrison/Tyler 19,515 53 4 MISSOURI VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 29,969 57 4 Harrison/Tyler 22,954 43 0 NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 32,774 55 7 Harrison/Tyler 26,310 44 0 NEW JERSEY VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 31,034 48 0 Harrison/Tyler 33,351 52 8 NEW YORK VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 212,733 48 0 Harrison/Tyler 226,001 51 42 NORTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 34,168 42 0 Harrison/Tyler 46,567 58 15 OHIO VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 124,782 46 0 Harrison/Tyler 148,157 54 21 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 143,676 50 0 Harrison/Tyler 144,010 50 30 RHODE ISLAND VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 3,301 38 0 Harrison/Tyler 5,278 61 4 SOUTH CAROLINA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* No Popular Vote -- 11 TENNESSEE VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 47,951 44 0 Harrison/Tyler 60,194 56 15 VERMONT VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 18,009 35 0 Harrison/Tyler 32,445 64 7 VIRGINIA VOTES PERCENT ELECTORAL VOTE Van Buren* 43,757 51 23 Harrison/Tyler 42,637 49 0 SYMBOLS KEY Whig Democrat Other Liberty Party Winner * Incumbent + Incumbent Party