U.S. presidential election, 1872

In the U.S. presidential election of 1872, incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant was easily elected to a second term in office despite a split within the Republican Party that resulted in a defection of many key Republicans to opponent Horace Greeley.

On November 29, 1872, after the popular vote but before the electoral college was convened, Greeley died. As a result, electors previously committed to Greeley voted for four different candidates for President, and eight different candidates for Vice President. Despite the absence of life, Greeley himself still received three electoral votes, but these votes were disallowed by Congress.

Henry Wilson, who was chosen by the Republicans to succeed Schuyler Colfax as Vice President, died on November 22, 1875.

Contents

1 Nominations 1.1 Republican Party nomination 1.2 Liberal Republican Party nomination 1.3 Democratic Party nomination 1.4 Other nominations 2 General election 2.1 Results 2.1.1 Breakdown by ticket 3 See also

Nominations

Republican Party nomination

President Grant was unanimously renominated for a second term by the convention's 752 delegates. Vice President Schuyler Colfax however narrowly missed renomination, garnering 322 delegates but falling short of Henry Wilson's 400.

Liberal Republican Party nomination

An influential group of dissident Republicans split from the party to form the Liberal Republican Party, which nominated New York Tribune editor (and Democratic nominee) Horace Greeley for President and Missouri Governor Benjamin Gratz Brown for Vice President.

Democratic Party nomination

As the Liberal Republicans did, the Democratic Party chose the Greeley/Brown ticket. Greeley received 686 of the 724 delegate votes cast, while Brown received 713.

Other nominations

Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to be nominated for the Presidency, running on the platform of the Equal Rights Party. She was not legally able to vote, and was in jail on charges of indecency on Election Day in any case. (Fellow suffragette Susan B. Anthony would be arrested and fined for attempting to vote on Election Day.) She would also not have been eligible to the Presidency on Inauguration Day, being only 34 years old, although theoretically her running mate could have served as Acting President until she qualified on September 23, 1873. She is not listed in "Election results" below, as she received a negligible percentage of the popular vote and no electoral votes.

General election

Results

|- | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | Democratic | Indiana | style="text-align:right;" | —^(b) | style="text-align:right;" | — | style="text-align:right;" | 42

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Democratic/Liberal Republican | Missouri | style="text-align:right;" | —^(b) | style="text-align:right;" | — | style="text-align:right;" | 18

|- | Charles J. Jenkins | Democratic | Georgia | style="text-align:right;" | —^(b) | style="text-align:right;" | — | style="text-align:right;" | 2

|- | David Davis | Liberal Republican | Illinois | style="text-align:right;" | —^(b) | style="text-align:right;" | — | style="text-align:right;" | 1

|- | Horace Greeley | Democratic/Liberal Republican | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 2,834,125 | style="text-align:right;" | 43.8% | style="text-align:right;" | —^(c)

|- | Charles O'Conor | Straight-out Democratic | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 29,489 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.5% | style="text-align:right;" | 0

|- | James Black | Prohibition | New York | style="text-align:right;" | 5,608 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.1% | style="text-align:right;" | 0 ^(a) '
^(b) These candidates received votes from Electors who were pledged to Horace Greeley.
^(c) Horace Greeley received three electoral votes, but these votes were disqualified.

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Democratic/Liberal Republican | Missouri | style="text-align:right;" | 47

|- | Alfred Holt Colquitt | Democratic | Georgia | style="text-align:right;" | 5

|- | George Washington Julian | Liberal Republican | Indiana | style="text-align:right;" | 5

|- | Thomas E. Bramlette | Democratic | Kentucky | style="text-align:right;" | 3

|- | John McAuley Palmer | Democratic | Illinois | style="text-align:right;" | 3

|- | Nathaniel Prentiss Banks | Liberal Republican | Massachusetts | style="text-align:right;" | 1

|- | William Slocum Groesbeck | Democratic/Liberal Republican | Ohio | style="text-align:right;" | 1

|- | Willis Benson Machen | Democratic | Kentucky | style="text-align:right;" | 1

|- | Charles Francis Adams, Sr. | Straight-out Democratic | Massachusetts | style="text-align:right;" | 0

|- | John Russell | Prohibition | Michigan | style="text-align:right;" | 0

Breakdown by ticket

|- | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | Benjamin Gratz Brown | 41 .. 42

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Alfred Holt Colquitt | 5

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | George Washington Julian | 4 .. 5

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Thomas E. Bramlette | 3

|- | Horace Greeley | Benjamin Gratz Brown | 3 ^(b)

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | John McAuley Palmer | 2 .. 3

|- | Charles J. Jenkins | Benjamin Gratz Brown | 2

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Nathaniel Prentiss Banks | 1

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | Willis Benson Machen | 1

|- | Benjamin Gratz Brown | William Slocum Groesbeck | 0 .. 1

|- | David Davis | Benjamin Gratz Brown | 0 .. 1

|- | David Davis | William Slocum Groesbeck | 0 .. 1

|- | David Davis | George Washington Julian | 0 .. 1

|- | David Davis | John McAuley Palmer | 0 .. 1

|- | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | William Slocum Groesbeck | 0 .. 1

|- | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | George Washington Julian | 0 .. 1

|- | Thomas Andrews Hendricks | John McAuley Palmer | 0 .. 1 ^(a) Wikipedia's research has not yet been sufficient to determine the pairings of 4 electoral votes in Missouri; therefore, the possible tickets are listed with the minimum and maximum possible number of electoral votes each.
^(b) Greeley was disqualified, but the Brown vice-presidential votes were counted.

See also

• History of the United States (1865-1918)