Video: 'The American Presidential Election of 1840'

(Wednesday, December 2, 1840, during the United States presidential election, 1840) — Former U.S. Senator William H. Harrison of Ohio, a Whig, was elected as the ninth President of the United States today, defeating incumbent President Martin Van Buren of New York, a Democrat.

Harrison and his running mate, former U.S. Senator John Tyler of Virginia, won 52.88 percent of the popular vote in the election, which was held from Friday, October 30, to Wednesday, December 2, 1840, resulting in 234 electoral votes.

Van Buren received 46.81 percent of the popular vote, resulting in 60 electoral votes.

Van Buren’s controversial incumbent vice president, Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky, was not officially nominated for a second term by the Democratic Party, but he did end up with 48 electoral votes, finishing second to Tyler’s 234.

Harrison and Tyler would be sworn in for a four-year term on March 4, 1841.