New England 1836 Election

The 1836 United States presidential election was the fifth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from September 4th to September 22, 1836. The Federalist candidate Harrison Gray Otis defeated National candidate Marcus Morton decisively. Otis' victory made him the first individual to succeed a full-term president.

As President Noah Webster chose to retire after serving two terms, the Federalists held a congressional convention in February 1836. Ending the convention with the support of Webster and Vice President Stephen Longfellow, Secretary of State Otis defeated reformer and philosopher Amos Alcott to win his party's presidential nomination. With Otis 71 years old upon inauguration, Federalists nominated Webster's protégé Gideon Tomlinson in a bid to alleviate concerns about Otis' age. The Nationals nominated the presidential ticket of associate state justice Marcus Morton and former governor William A. Palmer of Vermont.

Despite the unpopularity of the Webster Administration and the Sedition Act of 1831, Otis handily won the vast majority of both the electoral and popular votes. With the ongoing expansion of the right to vote for most white men, the election marked a dramatic expansion of the electorate, with many men gaining the right to vote as a result of the abolition of property as a requirement.

Federalist Party nomination
A coalition of the Democratic-Republican Party and the Federalist Party was created by David L. Yulee, after he also attempted to impeach Bidwell. The idea soon caught on, with Democratic-Republican leader Hannibal Hamlin and Federalist leader William Windom meeting to discuss the idea. The coalition of the two parties was expected to be short lived, but was able to hold, and won its first national election in 1876 with the election of James Longstreet. Former Presidents John Adams Dix, Henry S. Foote, and William Seward were all considered as options. Both Seward and Foote were quickly ruled out, due to Seward's large unpopularity and Foote's legal trouble after killing Jefferson Davis. Dix was then seen by many Democratic-Republicans as a shoo-in, though he still faced opposition. At the convention, multiple big names were there who were trying to take the nomination for themselves, which included: Dix, Charles F. Adams, Salmon P. Chase, James W. Flanagan, and others. All 8 ballots showed that there was significant opposition to Dix. Still, Dix was able to narrowly clinch the nomination on the eighth ballot, with former Vice President Henry T. Blow becoming Dix's running mate.

National Party nomination
Also see: 1831 National Party National Convention

A coalition of the Democratic-Republican Party and the Federalist Party was created by David L. Yulee, after he also attempted to impeach Bidwell. The idea soon caught on, with Democratic-Republican leader Hannibal Hamlin and Federalist leader William Windom meeting to discuss the idea. The coalition of the two parties was expected to be short lived, but was able to hold, and won its first national election in 1876 with the election of James Longstreet. Former Presidents John Adams Dix, Henry S. Foote, and William Seward were all considered as options. Both Seward and Foote were quickly ruled out, due to Seward's large unpopularity and Foote's legal trouble after killing Jefferson Davis. Dix was then seen by many Democratic-Republicans as a shoo-in, though he still faced opposition. At the convention, multiple big names were there who were trying to take the nomination for themselves, which included: Dix, Charles F. Adams, Salmon P. Chase, James W. Flanagan, and others. All 8 ballots showed that there was significant opposition to Dix. Still, Dix was able to narrowly clinch the nomination on the eighth ballot, with former Vice President Henry T. Blow becoming Dix's running mate.

Results
Despite the coalition of Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, Dix was unable to appeal to enough voters, and the economic recovery seen under Bidwell was too hard to challenge. Bidwell was able to retain the Presidency, and won 212 electoral votes to Dix's 175. Soon after the election, Dix returned to retirement and died in 1879.