In 1936, the Democratic Party again gathered in Baltimore for their presidential political campaign convention. Vice President Martin Van Buren, the man who had masterminded Andrew Jackson's campaign, was the party's choice for president. Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky was Jackson's choice for vice president, and the party followed his wishes.
Van Buren was the son of a tavern keeper from the small village of Kinderhook, New York. He had become a leader in New York state politics in what was then the Republican Party, and although eventually ran a political campaign to be elected senator, he remained in close touch with his state organization. He understood the importance of an organized, disciplined state party, and he had helped develop this organization as the Democratic Party was formed.
Van Buren had put his full effort into the political campaign that elected Jackson, and Jackson returned the favor by campaigning for Van Buren. He was an experienced politician--far more experienced than Jackson had been--and he believed deeply in the Democratic Party. He felt that the Democratic Party's principles, low taxes, no national debt, states' rights, and strict interpretation of the Constitution, should be clearly expressed to voters.
His hope was that the party's political campaign convention would focus on these ideas. Instead, the convention's message to voters--the type of message that would eventually be known as the party's platform--focused on party heroes like Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson. The actual nominee was mentioned only once.
Despite Jackson's support for his campaign and the backing of the organized Democratic Party structure, Van Buren barely won the popular vote, earning 50.9 percent. He did, however, receive a majority of the electoral votes and assumed the presidency in 1837.
The first national political campaign conventions were held in December of 1831 for the National Republican party. Their nominee for the presidency was Henry Clay. Five months later, 334 Democrats met in Baltimore. They represented every state except Missouri, and their unanimous choice for the nomination was incumbent President Andrew Jackson, with Martin Van Buren as his running mate.
This political campaign convention was an important milestone for the Democratic Party. Procedures were set up for future conventions and future nominations, ensuring that this was not Jackson's party, but a party that would endure beyond a single election or a single candidate. Majority rule dictated which candidate would be chosen. Two-thirds of the delegates needed to approve not only the presidential but also the vice-presidential nominee.
Jackson easily won the political campaign and the election, and the Democratic Party was established not as a branch of the Republican Party but as a political party in its own right. Thanks to Jackson,it was identified as the party of the common man; the wealthy and the elite were labeled its opponents. The Democratic Party still retains some of this image today.
Following the political campaign of 1832, Jackson challenged the national bank system, shifting federal money from the national bank to a series of state banks. The banking issue prompted a group of businessmen and opponents of Jackson's to band together to oppose the man they labeled 'King Andrew I.'
They called themselves 'Whigs,' after the British political party formed to oppose the king of England in the 1700s. Soon, they would develop into a political force, particularly in New England.
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