William H. Harrison

William H. Harrison's Success

William H. Harrison was very successful in his bid for the presidency in the election of 1840 for many reasons. William Henry Harrison began to spend time with others in his region who had been dealt out of the Jackson regime. Jackson ran so strong in some sectors that they had formed their own party, called the Whigs. Harrison was chosen as a Whig candidate, but not the only one. In an attempt to deny Van Buren an expected victory in the electoral college, the Whigs actually ran three regional candidates, including Harrison in the West.

Even though the strategy didn't work, Harrison did make a good showing, coming in second and carrying nine states out of twenty-six in the Union. His success and promise demonstrated to the Whigs that he was the candidate to support in 1840 to unseat Van Buren.

Not surprisingly, the Whig Party saw many opportunities for advancing a candidate in the 1840 election. William Henry Harrison, a born southerner and war hero, seemed to be perfect for the position. By the time of the first ballot, Whig delegates had turned to Harrison.

Both the President and his party made serious mistakes in the conduct of their reelection campaign. Van Buren underestimated the Whigs by thinking that they were a party of diverse philosophies, together only because of their hatred for Andrew Jackson.

This delivered the election into Harrison's hand. The Whigs jumped at this Democrat-drawn contrast with the sophisticated Van Buren and drove it home. In their image remaking of Harrison, the Whigs misrepresented him to the electorate. Harrison was actually from an established Virginia family, and a man who enjoyed luxurious living to the point that he was continually in debt. But voters wanted to identify with a war hero who shared their down-to-earth values. The Whigs' strategy worked.

One group of Whig party members pushed pro-Harrison slogans for hundreds of miles. Others handed out whiskey in log