Recent Articles

U.S. presidential election, 1832

Summary

Despite opposition from the universally respected Henry Clay of Kentucky, the election of 1832 served as little more than a coronation for President Andrew Jackson. A split within the National Republicans resulted in the nomination of two presidential candidates (Clay and John Floyd of Virginia), and three different Vice Presidential candidates. Had the party been unified however it would not have impacted the election as Jackson won 219 of the 286 electoral votes cast, easily defeating Clay, Floyd and Anti-Masonic Party candidate William Wirt.

This was also the first national election for "The Magician," Vice President-elect Martin Van Buren of New York, who was put on the Democratic ticket to succeed John Caldwell Calhoun and four years later would succeed Jackson. Van Buren faced opposition for the Vice Presidency within his own party however, and as a result 30 electors cast ballots for Pennsylvania's William Wilkins, in hopes of throwing the Vice Presidential election into the Senate.

Election Results

Presidential Candidate	Party	State	Popular Vote:	Electoral Vote:
Andrew Jackson	Democratic	Tennessee	687,502	219
Henry Clay	National Republican	Kentucky	530,189	49
John Floyd	National Republican	Virginia	530,189	11
William Wirt	Anti-Masonic	Virginia	530,189	7
Vice Presidential Candidate	Party	State	Popular Vote:	Electoral Vote:
Martin Van Buren	Democratic	New York	Unknown	189
John Sergeant	National Republican	Pennsylvania	Unknown	49
William Wilkins	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Unknown	30
Henry Lee	National Republican	Massachusetts	Unknown	11
Amos Ellmaker	National Republican	Pennsylvania	Unknown	7

Other Elections

For More Information

President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1832, History of the United States (1776-1865)