1840 presidential election results. Blue denotes states won by Van Buren, buff denotes states won by Harrison. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
The 1840 United States elections elected the members of the 27th United States Congress, taking place during the Second Party System. In the aftermath of the Panic of 1837, the Whigs become the fourth party in history to win control of the presidency and both houses of Congress; the Whigs would never again accomplish this feat. The election also marked the first time since the 1834 elections that the Democratic Party did not control the presidency and both chambers of Congress.
The 1840 presidential election was one of major controversy. Because the election took place during the rise of the Second Party System, rising levels of voting interest and party loyalty proved that this election was going to be controversial.[4] The incumbent Democratic candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was dubbed "Martin Van Ruin" because of his less-than-ideal previous term where he failed to address a financial crisis, ran for re-election over Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. The Whigs chose William Henry Harrison because of his similarities to former president Andrew Jackson in the sense that he was a war hero[5] and a man of the people.[6] This approach proved successful because William Henry Harrison won the election by dominating the electoral college, despite winning by only 5% of the popular vote.
In the House, Whigs won major gains, taking the majority.[7] In the Senate, Whigs picked up several seats, taking the majority.[8] This marked the second of three times in American history where one party flipped both chambers of Congress and the Presidency in a single election, along with 1800 and 1952.
^Formisano, Ronald P. (1993). "The New Political History and the Election of 1840". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 23 (4): 661–682. doi:10.2307/206278. JSTOR206278.