Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
U.S. presidential election, 1832
Despite opposition from the universally respected Henry Clay of Kentucky, the U.S. presidential 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.
| Contents |
General election
Results
|-
| John Floyd
| National Republican
| Virginia
| style="text-align:right;" | —(d)
| style="text-align:right;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
| Henry Lee
| Massachusetts
| style="text-align:right;" | 11
|-
| William Wirt
| Anti-Masonic
| Virginia
| style="text-align:right;" | (c)100,715
| style="text-align:right;" | 7.8%
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
| Amos Ellmaker
| Pennsylvania
| style="text-align:right;" | 7
(a) Popular vote figures come from Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
(b) The popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.
(c) 66,706 Pennsylvanians voted for the Union slate, which represented both Clay and Wirt. These voters have been assigned to Wirt and not Clay.
(d) All of John Floyd's electoral votes came from South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislatures rather than by popular vote.
Electoral college selection
| Method of choosing Electors | State(s) |
|---|---|
| state is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district | Maryland |
| each Elector appointed by state legislature | South Carolina |
| each Elector chosen by voters statewide | (all other states) |
See also
External links
- American President: Andrew Jackson
- answers.com: Elections
- The Green Papers: A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College
- Pennsylvania Presidential Election Returns 1832
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