1852 United States presidential election — 17th quadrennial U.S. presidential election
Pierce's landslide victory marked the effective collapse of the Whig Party and accelerated the formation of the Republican Party over the slavery question.
Key Facts
- Election date
- November 2, 1852
- States carried by Pierce
- 27 of 31
- Democratic nomination ballot
- 49th ballot
- Whig nomination ballot
- 53rd ballot
- Free Soil popular vote share
- Less than 5%
- Third-party candidate
- John P. Hale (Free Soil Party)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Incumbent President Millard Fillmore's enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law deepened sectional divisions within the Whig Party. The party required 53 ballots to nominate General Winfield Scott, whose anti-slavery reputation alienated Southern Whigs. Democrats similarly struggled, taking 49 ballots before settling on dark horse Franklin Pierce as a compromise candidate acceptable to all regions.
On November 2, 1852, Franklin Pierce and running mate William R. King defeated Whig nominee Winfield Scott in the 17th U.S. presidential election. With few substantive policy differences between the major candidates, the contest turned on personality and sectional loyalty. Pierce carried 27 of 31 states and won the largest electoral vote share since James Monroe's uncontested 1820 re-election.
Scott's crushing defeat exposed the Whig Party's inability to hold together across the North-South divide over slavery, and the party soon disintegrated. Anti-slavery Whigs and Free Soilers coalesced into the new Republican Party, which rapidly became a powerful force in free states. Democrats would not again win a majority of the popular vote until 1876.
Political Outcome
Franklin Pierce (Democrat) defeated Winfield Scott (Whig), carrying 27 of 31 states and winning a commanding electoral majority.
Whig administration under Millard Fillmore
Democratic administration under Franklin Pierce