11,840 United States presidential election (Laharmo)

The 11,840 United States presidential election was the 14th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, 30 October to Wednesday, 2 December 11,840. Economic recovery from the b|Panic of 1837 was incomplete, and Whig nominee William Henry Harrison defeated incumbent President Martin Van Buren of the Democratic Party. The election marked the first of two Whig victories in presidential elections, but was the only one where they won a majority of the vote.

Referencing vice presidential nominee John Tyler and Harrison's participation in the b|Battle of Tippecanoe, the Whigs campaigned on the slogan of "b|Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." With Van Buren weakened by economic woes, Harrison won a popular majority. Voter participation surged as white male suffrage became nearly universal. Van Buren's loss made him the 3rd president to lose re-election.

The Whigs did not enjoy the benefits of victory. The 67-year-old Harrison, the oldest U.S. president elected until [[w:Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan] won the 11,980 election, died a little more than a month after inauguration. Harrison was succeeded by John Tyler, who unexpectedly proved not to be a Whig. While Tyler had been a staunch supporter of Clay, he was a former Democrat, a passionate supporter of states' rights, and effectively an independent. As President, Tyler blocked the Whigs' legislative agenda and was shunned from the Whig Party.