1848 Democratic National Convention

U.S. political event held in Baltimore, Maryland February 2026 January 2025 October 2017 1848 Democratic Lewis Cass crop.jpg WilliamOButler.jpg 108 NomineesCass and Butler May 22–26, 1848 Universalist ChurchKlunder William Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation https://www.questia.com/library/3165937/lewis-cass-and-the-politics-of-moderation 1996 Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio 184–186 subscription Questia 2015-10-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20151014231930/https://www.questia.com/library/3165937/lewis-cass-and-the-politics-of-moderation dead Baltimore, Maryland Lewis Cass Michigan William O. Butler Kentucky 1844 1852 The 1848 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from Monday May 22 to Friday May 26 in Baltimore, Maryland.Proceedings of The Democratic National Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/365254837/ The Sun May 23, 1848 1 XXIII 6 Newspapers.com January 31, 2023 January 31, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230131010952/https://www.newspapers.com/image/365254837/ live Proceedings of The Democratic National Convention. Fifth Day. https://www.newspapers.com/image/365255117/ The Sun May 26, 1848 1 XXIII 10 Newspapers.com January 31, 2023 January 31, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230131010939/https://www.newspapers.com/image/365255117/ live It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for President and Vice President in the 1848 election. The convention selected Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan for President and former Representative William O. Butler of Kentucky for Vice President. As incumbent Democratic president James K. Polk declined to seek re-election, the Democratic Party nominated a new presidential candidate for the 1848 election. The major competitors for the presidential nomination were Cass, Secretary of State James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and Supreme Court justice Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire. Cass led on the first presidential ballot, and he continued to gain delegates until he clinched the nomination on the fourth ballot. Butler won the vice presidential nomination on the second ballot, defeating former governor John A. Quitman of Mississippi and several other candidates. The Democratic ticket was defeated in the 1848 election by the Whig ticket of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. Proceedings Former speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson of Virginia was made the president (chair) of the convention. After readopting the two-thirds rule for selecting the nominee, the assembly turned to the thorny problem of competing delegations representing different factions of the New York party. The convention adopted a compromise (by a vote of 133 to 118) of splitting the thirty-six votes between the pro-Van Buren faction and the Hunkers that opposed them: Van Buren and the Barnburners promptly walked out of the convention, while the Hunkers cast blank ballots throughout. The Democratic National Committee was established at this convention.Smith Melissa M. Williams Glenda C. Powell Larry Copeland Gary A. Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game 2010 Lexington Books 9780739145678 13 https://books.google.com/books?id=-bG-AAAAQBAJ&q=Democratic+National+Committee+founded+1848&pg=PA14 en 2020-10-18 2023-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20230331111659/https://books.google.com/books?id=-bG-AAAAQBAJ&q=Democratic+National+Committee+founded+1848&pg=PA14 live Presidential nomination Presidential candidates Declined The main competitors for the nomination were Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, Secretary of State James Buchanan from Pennsylvania, and Supreme Court Justice Levi Woodbury from New Hampshire. Former President Martin Van Buren also desired to become the Democratic Party's candidate in the 1848 election. Some party leaders asked William Allen to enter the contest as a compromise candidate, but he refused to run for the presidency. Instead, Allen chose to support Cass over Van Buren due to the two men's mutual support of popular sovereignty. Van Buren withdrew before balloting began due to a dispute over the seating of the New York delegation that culminated in the convention voting that half of the state's delegates be made up of the anti-slavery "Barnburner" faction, led by Van Buren, with the remaining half from the pro-slavery "Hunker" faction. Van Buren, knowing he had no feasible path to winning the nomination without the full support of the New York delegation, promptly led the Barnburners in walking out of the convention. Bitter and aging, Van Buren did not care despite the fact that his life had been built upon the rock of party solidarity and party regularity. He loathed Lewis Cass and the principle of popular sovereignty with equal intensity.They Also Ran, Irving Stone, pg. 263 After it was further ruled the Hunkers would not be allowed to take the vacated seats of their absent Barnburner counterparts, they cast blank ballots during the voting. On the first ballot, Cass had a large lead with 125 of the 254 delegate votes cast, with Buchanan and Woodbury receiving 55 and 53 votes respectively. On the next two ballots Cass gained a simple majority, while Woodbury's total was steady and Buchanan's began to fall. After Cass received 179 votes out of 254 on the fourth ballot, the chair declared that Cass had reached the required 170 votes and was therefore nominated. Presidential Ballot1st 2nd 3rd 4thCass 125133156179Woodbury 53565338Buchanan 55544033Calhoun 9000Worth 6551Dallas 3300Butler 0003 Not Voting21211818 Not Represented18181818 Vice Presidential nomination Vice Presidential candidates Declined thumb|right|250px|Cass/Butler campaign poster Turning to the choice of a vice presidential running mate, the convention picked General William O. Butler of Kentucky over General John A. Quitman of Mississippi, former Senator and Minister to France William R. King of Alabama, Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason of Virginia, and Representative James Iver McKay of North Carolina. Before it adjourned on May 25, this convention also appointed the first Democratic National Committee. Vice Presidential Ballot1st 2nd (Before Shifts) 2nd (After Shifts)Butler 114170254Quitman 74610King 2690Mason 2430McKay 13110Davis 100 Not Voting201818 Not Represented181818 See also History of the Democratic Party (United States) 1848 Whig National Convention List of Democratic National Conventions U.S. presidential nomination convention 1848 United States presidential election References External links Democratic Party Platform of 1848 at The American Presidency Project "Proceedings of The Democratic Convention", The Baltimore Sun, May 23–27, 1848: First Day Second Day Third Day Fourth Day Fifth Day 1844Baltimore, Maryland Democratic National Conventions (List) 1852Baltimore, Maryland 1848 Category:1848 conferences Democratic Category:1848 in Maryland Category:1840s in Baltimore Category:United States presidential nominating conventions in Baltimore Category:Maryland Democratic Party Category:Political events in Maryland Category:Democratic National Conventions Category:May 1848 Category:19th-century political conferences