Lewis Cass and Martin van Buren, 1848
 |
| Lewis Cass |
 |
| Martin van Buren |
In 1848, Zachary Taylor was going to be a tough man to beat.
In his own lifetime, he was compared to George Washington and Andrew Jackson, but the truth is, in terms of total yardage gained, his stats were better than those two combined.
He soundly defeated Santa Anna and his Mexican army, driving them out of
Texas once and for all.
These days if Mexicans want to visit
Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, they can get a green card or sneak in across the river the way God intended.
Anyway.
Remaining opposition divided on the slavery issue.
Anti-slavery Democrats didn’t trust Cass and split to form the Free Soil Party, nominating former Presidential Loser and Wizard-of-Oz look-alike, Martin van Buren.
The division didn’t do much to split the vote, however.
War-Hero Taylor won handily with 163 electoral votes to Cass’ 127, and van Buren received – drum roll – ZERO!
That’s right, no electoral votes whatsoever, making him the precise opposite of George Washington who was elected by unanimous acclamation, van Buren was
rejected by unanimous acclamation.
Result
Zachary Taylor: 163
Lewis Cass: 127
Martin van Buren: 0
