In 1840, Van Buren lost his bid for reelection to war hero William Henry Harrison. He tried again in 1844 and 1848 but was denied the presidency each time. At that point, he decided to retire from public life. He did come back to serve as a presidential elector for both Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. He lived to see the beginning of the Civil War but died on July 2, 1862, of heart failure.