1856 Democratic National Convention

American political convention February 2026 February 2026 1856 Democratic James Buchanan (Oval).png 125 John Breckinridge (Oval).png 125 Nominees Buchanan and Breckinridge June 2–6, 1856 Smith and Nixon's Hall Cincinnati, Ohio James Buchanan Pennsylvania John C. Breckinridge Kentucky 1852 1860 The 1856 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 2 to June 6 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1856 election. The convention selected former Secretary of State James Buchanan of Pennsylvania for president and former Representative John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for vice president. Incumbent Democratic President Franklin Pierce's standing with the public had been badly damaged by "Bleeding Kansas," the civil strife in Kansas Territory over slavery. Many dissatisfied Democrats lined up behind Buchanan, who had served as Pierce's ambassador to Britain and thus had avoided the controversy over Bleeding Kansas, while a smaller group of Democrats supported Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. Buchanan led on the first ballot and slowly grew his support on subsequent ballots, leading Pierce to instruct his delegates to back Douglas. Douglas agreed to withdraw his name after receiving assurances that Buchanan would not seek re-election in 1860, allowing Buchanan to clinch the nomination on the seventeenth ballot. Pierce became the first and only elected president who was an active candidate for reelection to be denied his party's nomination for a second term. Eleven candidates received votes on the first vice presidential ballot, with Congressman John A. Quitman winning a plurality of the vote. The delegates lined up unanimously behind Breckinridge on the second ballot, giving him the vice presidential nomination. The Democratic ticket went on to win the 1856 election, defeating the Republican ticket of John C. Frémont and William L. Dayton and the American Party ticket of Millard Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson. Background 160px160px160pxSenators James A. Bayard, Jesse D. Bright, and John Slidell (of Delaware, Indiana, and Louisiana respectively) helped to organize and orchestrate James Buchanan's eventual nomination in the convention. The Democratic Party was wounded from its major losses in the 1854–1855 midterm elections. The party faced continued north–south sectional division over slavery-related issues, especially the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 and subsequent violence known as "Bleeding Kansas" from the civil strife in the Kansas Territory during its campaign for statehood. Two notable Democratic politicians, President Pierce and Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, were seen as being at the center of the controversies, which led many party members to look elsewhere for a new compromise candidate for president. James Buchanan had been a candidate for president at the 1852 Democratic National Convention, and after the 1852 election he agreed to serve as Pierce's ambassador to Britain.Baker 2004 51–58 Buchanan's service abroad conveniently placed him outside of the country while the debate over the Kansas–Nebraska Act roiled the nation.Baker 2004 67–68 Powerful Senators like John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and James A. Bayard lined up behind Buchanan, presenting him as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and South.Baker 2004 69–70 While Buchanan did not overtly seek the presidency, he also took no action to discourage his supporters.Klein 1962 248–252 Proceedings Called to order at noon on Monday, June 2, by the National Committee chair Robert Milligan McLane, Samuel Medary was made the temporary president. The first day, the convention appointed committees on credentials, organization, and resolutions. On the second day the organization committee (John L. Dawson, chair) report was adopted and John Elliot Ward of Georgia was made the convention's president. The committee on credentials (James A. Bayard Jr., chair) settled a dispute over the Missouri delegation, but needed more time for the thorny problem of competing delegations from New York. June 4 saw the adoption of a platform (former National Committee chair Benjamin F. Hallett headed the committee on resolutions); the domestic portions were supported unanimously, the foreign policy planks by large margins. A separately reported plank on a railroad to the Pacific coast failed by a vote of 120 to 154. On June 5, the New York problem was finally settled by seating half of each of the competing delegations. Nominations for President were then made. Presidential nomination Presidential candidates On the first ballot, Pierce received 122 votes, many of them from the South, to Buchanan's 135, with Douglas and Lewis Cass receiving the remaining votes. The next four ballots produced largely the same result, but Pierce's support began to gradually decline starting on the sixth ballot. Buchanan's support steadily increased over the course of the vote, but the biggest momentum was with Douglas, who started the day with the support of only a few midwestern delegations and had nearly doubled his delegate count by the time balloting adjourned for the day. By the end of the day fourteen ballots had been completed; while none of the three main candidates were able to get two-thirds of the vote, it was by now obvious that Pierce would not be nominated for a second term. Before the second day of balloting, Pierce directed his supporters to break for Douglas, reluctantly withdrawing his name in a last-ditch effort to deny the nomination to Buchanan, hoping this would either begin a stampede towards Douglas, or deadlock the vote for long enough for a compromise candidate to emerge. Douglas, only 43 years of age, believed that he could be nominated in 1860 if he let the older Buchanan win this time, and received assurances from Buchanan's managers that this would be the case. After two more deadlocked ballots, Douglas's managers withdrew his name, leaving Buchanan as the clear winner. To soften the blow to Pierce, the convention issued a resolution of "unqualified approbation" in praise of his administration.Wallner (2007), pp. 266–70; Gara (1991), pp. 157–67, Holt (2010), loc. 1515–58. This loss marked the first (and until 2024, only) time in U.S. history that an elected president who was an active candidate for reelection was not nominated for a second term.Rudin Ken When Has A President Been Denied His Party's Nomination? https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/07/a_president_denied_renominatio.html February 15, 2017 NPR July 22, 2009 Presidential Ballot (1st Day)1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14thBuchanan 135.5139139.5141.5140155143.5147.5146147.5147.5148150152.5Pierce 122.5119.5119119119.5107.589878780.5807977.575Douglas 3331.53230312858565662.56363.56363Cass 565.55.55.55.55.55.575.55.55.55.55.5Not Voting00000000000000 Presidential Ballot (2nd Day)15th 16th 17thBuchanan 168.5168296Pierce 3.500Douglas 118.51220Cass 4.560Not Voting100 1st Day of Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (Thursday, June 5, 1856) 2nd Day of Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (Friday, June 6, 1856) Vice Presidential nomination Vice Presidential candidates Declined thumb|right|250px|Buchanan/Breckinridge campaign poster Eleven candidates were nominated for the vice presidency, but a number of them attempted to withdraw themselves from consideration, among them the eventual nominee, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. Breckinridge supported fellow Kentuckian Linn Boyd for the vice presidential nomination. On the first ballot, Representative John A. Quitman of Mississippi was the front-runner, but his extreme pro-slavery views meant he no real prospect of gaining the required two-thirds majority. Following a draft effort led by the delegation from Vermont, Breckinridge was nominated unanimously on the second ballot. As Vermont's David Allen Smalley stated, "No Democrat has a right to refuse his services when his country calls." Vice Presidential Ballot1st (Before Shifts) 1st (After Shifts) 2nd (After Shifts)Quitman 60590Breckinridge 3750296 Boyd 33330Bayard 31310Johnson 31310Brown 29290Butler 27270Dobbin 15130Rusk 1570Fitzpatrick 13110Polk 550 Aftermath The Buchanan-Breckinridge ticket went on to win the 1856 presidential election, defeating John C. Frémont with William L. Dayton from the new Republican Party, and a strong third party showing from the American Party of the "Know Nothings" represented by former President Millard Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson. See also History of the United States Democratic Party 1856 Republican National Convention 1856 Whig National Convention List of Democratic National Conventions U.S. presidential nomination convention 1856 United States presidential election References 2 Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in Cincinnati, June 2–6, 1856 Works cited 2 Baker Jean H. Jean H. Baker James Buchanan Times Books 2004 0-8050-6946-1 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780805069464 registration Gara Larry The Presidency of Franklin Pierce 1991 University Press of Kansas 0-7006-0494-4 Gara Holt Michael F. Franklin Pierce 2010 The American Presidents Henry Holt and Company, LLC 978-0-8050-8719-2 Kindle Holt Klein Philip S. President James Buchanan: A Biography American Political Biography Press 1962 1995 0-945707-11-8 Wallner Peter A. Franklin Pierce: Martyr for the Union 2007 Plaidswede 978-0-9790784-2-2 Wallner-2007 External links Democratic Party Platform of 1856 at The American Presidency Project Franklin Pierce at History.com 1852Baltimore, Maryland Democratic National Conventions 1860Baltimore, Maryland Category:1856 United States presidential election Category:1856 in Ohio Category:19th century in Cincinnati Category:United States presidential nominating conventions in Cincinnati Category:Ohio Democratic Party Category:Democratic National Conventions Category:1856 conferences Category:June 1856 Category:19th-century political conferences Category:Franklin Pierce Category:James Buchanan