President James Madison was nominated for a second term at the Democratic Republican National Caucus on 5/18/1812. The New York DRP Caucus met ten days later and nominated DeWitt Clinton for President. The Federalist Party held a national caucus on 9/15-17/1812 which was actually a national convention (but that term was not in use at the time). The Federalists were divided over nominating Clinton, and the Clinton campaign feared that their endorsement would hurt his chances in the west, so the Federalists made no nomination but allowed their members in the various states to proceed as they saw fit. While most Federalists helped to create Fusion tickets of Clinton Electors, Federalists in Virginia nominated Rufus King for President.

War of 1812

Congress voted in favor of President Madison's request for a declaration of war against Great Britain after the DRP Caucus. All 40 Federalists in congress voted against war. The vote in the House was 79-49, and in the Senate it was 19-13. Although Secretary of War William Eustis had worked to prepare the U.S. Army and militias for an invasion of Canada, the invasion in 7/1812 was a failure,

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President James Madison was nominated for a second term at the Democratic Republican National Caucus on 5/18/1812. The New York DRP Caucus met ten days later and nominated DeWitt Clinton for President. The Federalist Party held a national caucus on 9/15-17/1812 which was actually a national convention (but that term was not in use at the time). The Federalists were divided over nominating Clinton, and the Clinton campaign feared that their endorsement would hurt his chances in the west, so the Federalists made no nomination but allowed their members in the various states to proceed as they saw fit. While most Federalists helped to create Fusion tickets of Clinton Electors, Federalists in Virginia nominated Rufus King for President.

War of 1812

Congress voted in favor of President Madison's request for a declaration of war against Great Britain after the DRP Caucus. All 40 Federalists in congress voted against war. The vote in the House was 79-49, and in the Senate it was 19-13. Although Secretary of War William Eustis had worked to prepare the U.S. Army and militias for an invasion of Canada, the invasion in 7/1812 was a failure, and on 8/16/1812 the U.S. forces surrendered to the British at Detroit.

At this low point of the war, an interesting letter was published in the Baltimore Whig (reprinted in the NYC Statesman on 9/14/1812). The letter, written by a North Carolinian, predicted how the states would vote. The table is remarkably accurate, making only two errors (placing NC and VT in the Clinton column). North Carolina was counted for Clinton because of a massive shift in the state elections earlier in the month towards the Federalists. The author believed that Clinton would win by a 110-108 margin.

Half of the 18 states chose Presidential Electors by popular vote. Of these nine, four were battleground states: MD, NH, OH, and PA. Madison was safely ahead in KY, TN, and VA, and Clinton was safely ahead in RI. Including expected Electors to be chosen by the legislators, Madison had 64 sure electoral votes to 68 for Clinton and 86 being contested. Five states chose Presidential Electors by the General Ticket method (NH, OH, PA, RI, and VA), and four by Presidential Elector District (KY, MD, MA, and TN).

The Popular Vote

As always in Presidential elections before 1848, the states chose their own dates for holding the election. The first states to vote were Ohio and Pennsylvania on 10/30/1812. These were both battleground states, with many dissident DRP political leaders supporting Clinton, including Ohio's Supreme Court justice Ethan A. Brown. The result in these first two states was a runaway Madison victory.

Turnout in the states with popular votes was phenomenal. Massachusetts, where Clinton won by a 65-35% margin, was the first state to give any presidential candidate over 50,000 votes. It was a feat not again achieved until 1828. Compared to the vote of 1808, turnout increased by one third in New Hampshire, by one half in Pennsylvania, and doubled in Ohio. Clinton won NH by a 56-44% margin and split Maryland with Madison. Madison won Virginia handily, dispatching the sole slate of King Electors.

When all the states choosing Presidential Electors by popular vote had done so, they had chosen 84 Madison and 39 Clinton Electors. Nine states then needed to choose 95 Electors, and of these, Clinton appeared to be headed for a lopsided win. He was certain to win New York, Connecticut, and Delaware; Madison was certain to win Georgia and South Carolina. Four other states were being contested. The projected electoral vote stood Madison-103, Clinton-81, and undetermined-34.

Electoral Vote of 1812

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