Road to the Presidency
Harrison ran an unsuccessful campaign to become president in 1836 and was defeated by Martin Van Buren. He was nominated again by the Whig party in 1840 with John Tyler as his vice president. This time President Van Buren was the incumbent. However, the huge economic depression that occurred during his first term in office hurt his popularity. During the campaign, Harrison was viewed as coming from a humble background while Van Buren was seen as an elite who was out of touch with the people.
Van Buren could not even carry his home state of New York and Harrison easily won the election with 80 percent of the electoral votes.
PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA
The election of 1840 featured the first modern campaign. The parties used advertising and campaign slogans such as “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.” Further, his supporters contrived an image of Harrison as having been born in a log cabin even though he was actually raised on a wealthy estate. The image stuck and enabled him to gain the majority of votes on the Western frontier.
