U.S. presidential election, 1856
Summary
President Franklin Pierce was defeated in his effort to be renominated by the Democrats, who instead selected James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. The Whigs meanwhile had disbanded but been largely replaced by the Republican Party, a new organization that nominated John Fremont of California as its first standard bearer.
The campaign of 1856 was waged almost entirely on the issue of slavery, pitted as a struggle between democracy and aristocracy, and focusing specifically on Kansas. Republicans condemned the Kansas-Nebraska Act and expansion of slavery, while Democrats took more of a laissez-faire approach to slavery expansion, taking the official approach that it was a state-by-state decision.
Election Results
| Presidential Candidate | Party | State | Popular Vote: | Electoral Vote: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Buchanan | Democratic | Pennsylvania | 1,838,169 | 174 |
| John Charles Frémont | Republican | California | 1,341,264 | 114 |
| Millard Fillmore | American | New York | 874,534 | 8 |
| Vice Presidential Candidate | Party | State | Popular Vote: | Electoral Vote: |
| John Cabell Breckinridge | Democratic | Kentucky | - - - | 174 |
| William Lewis Dayton | Republican | New Jersey | - - - | 114 |
| Andrew Jackson Donelson | American | Tennessee | - - - | 8 |
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For More Information
President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1856, History of the United States (1776-1865), Origins of the American Civil War