Electoral history of James Buchanan

Last updated May 19, 2025

This is the electoral history of James Buchanan . He was the 15th president of the United States (1856-1860); 17th United States Secretary of State; United States Minister to the United Kingdom and Russia; U.S. representative from Pennsylvania's third (1821-1823) and fourth congressional district (1823-1831); and U.S. senator from Pennsylvania (1834-1845).

United States House of Representatives elections

1820

1820 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania ^[1]
Pennsylvania-3 (Plural district with 2 seats)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Federalist	James Buchanan	7,809	27.9
Federalist	John Phillips	7,709	27.5
Democratic-Republican	Jacob Hibshman	6,396	22.8
Democratic-Republican	James M. Wallace	6,100	21.8

1822

1822 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania ^[2]
Pennsylvania-4 (Plural district with 3 seats)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Jacksonian	James Buchanan	7,021	18.6
Jacksonian	Isaac Wayne	6,870	18.2
Jacksonian	Samuel Edwards	6,839	18.1
Democratic-Republican	William Darlington	5,723	15.2
Democratic-Republican	William Anderson	5,646	15.0
Democratic-Republican	Jacob Hibshman	5,639	14.9

1824

1824 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania ^[3]
Pennsylvania-4 (Plural district with 3 seats)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Jacksonian	James Buchanan	6,968	18.0
Jacksonian	Samuel Edwards	6,802	17.5
Anti-Jacksonian	Charles Miner	6,756	17.4
Democratic-Republican	Isaac D. Barnard	6,129	15.8
Democratic-Republican	William Anderson	6,098	15.7
Democratic-Republican	Samuel Houston	6,028	15.5

1826

1826 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania ^[4]
Pennsylvania-4 (Plural district with 3 seats)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Jacksonian	James Buchanan	5,950	18.5
Anti-Jacksonian	Samuel Anderson	5,732	17.8
Anti-Jacksonian	Charles Miner	5,670	17.6
Jacksonian	Joshua Evans Jr.	4,983	15.5
Jacksonian	John McCamant	4,933	15.3
Jacksonian	George Gray Leiper	4,902	15.2

1828

1828 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania ^[5]
Pennsylvania-4 (Plural district with 3 seats)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Jacksonian	James Buchanan	10,004	17.6
Jacksonian	Joshua Evans Jr.	9,932	17.5
Jacksonian	George Gray Leiper	9,538	17.4
Anti-Jacksonian	Samuel Anderson	9,023	15.9
Anti-Jacksonian	Townsend Haines	9,006	15.9
Anti-Jacksonian	William Hiester	8,957	15.8

United States Senate election

1834

1834 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania ^[6]
State Legislature Results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Buchanan	66	49.62
	Anti-Masonic	Amos Ellmaker	31	23.31
	Democratic	James Clarke	26	19.55
	National Republican	Joseph Lawrence	6	4.51
	Democratic	Joel Sutherland	1	0.75
	N/A	Not voting	3	2.26
Totals			133	100.00%

1836

1836 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania ^[7]
State Legislature Results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Buchanan	85	63.91
	Whig	Thomas M. T. McKennan	24	18.05
	Whig	Charles B. Penrose	21	15.79
	Democratic	Thomas Cunningham	1	0.75
	Democratic	Isaac Leet	1	0.75
	N/A	Not voting	1	0.75
Totals			133	100.00%

1843

1843 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania ^[8]
State Legislature Results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Buchanan	74	56.06
	Whig	John Banks	54	40.91
	Democratic	Richard Brodhead	1	0.76
	Unknown	John Gibons	1	0.76
	N/A	Not voting	2	1.52
Totals			132	100.00%

Democratic National Conventions

1844

1844 Democratic National Convention ^[9]
Ballots	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9^[a]	9^[b]
Martin Van Buren	146	127	121	111	103	101	99	104	2	0
Lewis Cass	83	94	92	105	107	116	123	114	29	0
Richard M. Johnson	24	33	38	32	29	23	21	0	0	0
James Buchanan	4	9	11	17	26	25	22	2	0	0
John C. Calhoun	6	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	0
Levi Woodbury	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Charles Stewart	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Morton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
James K. Polk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	44	231	266
Blank	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Notes

↑ before shifts
↑ after shifts

1848

1848 Democratic National Convention
Ballots	1	2	3	4
Lewis Cass	125	133	156	179
Levi Woodbury	53	56	53	38
James Buchanan	55	54	40	33
John C. Calhoun	9	0	0	0
William Jenkins Worth	6	5	5	1
George M. Dallas	3	3	0	0
William Orlando Butler	0	0	0	3
Abstaining	39	39	36	36

1852

1852 Democratic National Convention ^[10] Presidential Ballot ^[11]
Ballot	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th
Franklin Pierce	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lewis Cass	116	118	119	115	114	114	113	113	112	111	101	98	98	99	99	99	99	96	89	81	60	43	37	33	34
James Buchanan	93	95	94	89	89	88	88	88	87	86	87	88	88	87	87	87	87	85	85	92	102	104	103	103	101
William L. Marcy	27	27	26	25	26	26	26	26	27	27	27	27	26	26	26	26	26	25	26	26	26	26	26	26	26
Stephen A. Douglas	20	23	21	31	34	32	34	34	39	40	50	52	51	51	51	51	50	56	63	64	64	77	78	80	79
William Butler	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	13	15	20	23	24
Daniel S. Dickinson	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Joseph Lane	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Sam Houston	8	6	7	7	8	8	9	9	8	8	8	9	10	10	10	10	9	11	9	10	9	9	10	9	10
John B. Weller	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Henry Dodge	3	3	3	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Linn Boyd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
William R. King	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Charles Ingersoll	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Blank	9	9	12	12	7	13	8	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	8	8	10	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8

Presidential Ballot
Ballot	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	32nd	33rd	34th	35th	36th	37th	38th	39th	40th	41st	42nd	43rd	44th	45th	46th	47th	48th	49th
Franklin Pierce	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	29	44	49	55	283
Lewis Cass	33	32	28	27	33	65	98	123	130	131	122	120	107	106	107	107	101	101	101	96	78	75	72	2
James Buchanan	101	98	96	93	91	83	74	72	49	39	28	28	28	28	27	27	27	27	27	27	28	28	28	0
William Marcy	26	26	26	26	26	26	26	25	33	44	58	70	84	85	85	85	91	91	91	97	98	95	89	0
Stephen Douglas	80	85	88	91	92	92	80	60	53	52	43	34	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	32	32	33	33	2
William Butler	24	24	25	25	20	17	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Daniel S. Dickinson	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	16	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
Joseph Lane	13	13	13	13	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sam Houston	10	9	11	12	12	9	8	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	1
Linn Boyd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
William R. King	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Charles Ingersoll	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Blank	8	8	8	8	8	3	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7

1856

1856 Democratic National Convention ^[12]
Ballot	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th
Presidential Ballot
James Buchanan	135.5	139	139.5	141.5	140	155	143.5	147.5	146	147.5	147.5	148	150	152.5	168.5	168	296
Franklin Pierce	122.5	119.5	119	119	119.5	107.5	89	87	87	80.5	80	79	77.5	75	3.5	0	0
Stephen Douglas	33	31.5	32	30	31	28	58	56	56	62.5	63	63.5	63	63	118.5	122	0
Lewis Cass	5	6	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	7	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	4.5	6	0

1st Presidential Ballot
2nd Presidential Ballot
3rd Presidential Ballot
4th Presidential Ballot
5th Presidential Ballot
6th Presidential Ballot
7th Presidential Ballot
8th Presidential Ballot
9th Presidential Ballot
10th Presidential Ballot
11th Presidential Ballot
12th Presidential Ballot
13th Presidential Ballot
14th Presidential Ballot
15th Presidential Ballot
16th Presidential Ballot
17th and Final Presidential Ballot

1856 United States presidential election

Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Buchanan/Breckinridge, red by Fremont/Dayton, and lilac by Fillmore/Donelson. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state. ElectoralCollege1856.svg — Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Buchanan/Breckinridge, red by Frémont/Dayton, and lilac by Fillmore/Donelson. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.

Electoral results
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote^(a)		Electoral vote	Running mate
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Count	Percentage	Electoral vote	Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
James Buchanan Jr.	Democratic	Pennsylvania	1,836,072	45.28%	174	John Cabell Breckinridge	Kentucky	174
John Charles Frémont	Republican	California	1,342,345	33.11%	114	William Lewis Dayton	New Jersey	114
Millard Fillmore	American	New York	873,053	21.53%	8	Andrew Jackson Donelson	Tennessee	8
Other			3,177	0.08%	—	Other		—
Total			4,054,647	100%	296			296
Needed to win					149			149

Source (Popular Vote):Leip, David. "1856 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005.Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration . Retrieved July 31, 2005.

^(a)The popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.

Sources and references

↑ "U. S. Congressional Election (10 October 1820)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "U. S. Congressional Election (8 October 1822)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "U. S. Congressional Election (10 October 1824)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "U. S. Congressional Election (12 October 1826)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "U. S. Congressional Election (14 October 1826)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "U. S. Senate Election (1834)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
↑ "U. S. Senate Election (1836)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
↑ "U. S. Senate Election (1843)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
↑ Witcover, Jules (2003). Party of the people a history of the Democrats. Internet Archive. New York : Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50742-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
↑ Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De (1882). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
↑ Johnson, Charles W. (1852). Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852. Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t3806c46m. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-13– via HathiTrust.
↑ Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention. National Document Publishers. 1856. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-13.

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[10] re shifts

[11] ter shifts

[1] "U. S. Congressional Election (10 October 1820)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[2] "U. S. Congressional Election (8 October 1822)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[3] "U. S. Congressional Election (10 October 1824)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[4] "U. S. Congressional Election (12 October 1826)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[5] "U. S. Congressional Election (14 October 1826)" (PDF). Retrieved May 13, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[6] "U. S. Senate Election (1834)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.

[7] "U. S. Senate Election (1836)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2021.

[8] "U. S. Senate Election (1843)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2021.

[9] Witcover, Jules (2003). Party of the people a history of the Democrats. Internet Archive. New York : Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50742-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

[12] Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De (1882). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-13.

[13] Johnson, Charles W. (1852). Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held at Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852. Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong. hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t3806c46m. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-13– via HathiTrust.

[14] Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention. National Document Publishers. 1856. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-13.

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v t e James Buchanan
15th President of the United States (1857–1861) 17th United States Secretary of State (1845–1849) U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1834–1845) U.S. Representative for PA–4 (1823–1831) U.S. Representative for PA–3 (1821–1823)
Life	Electoral history of James Buchanan 1844 Democratic National Convention Oregon Treaty 1848 Democratic National Convention Wheatland Doughface 1852 Democratic National Convention Ostend Manifesto 1856 United States presidential election 1856 Democratic National Convention Woodward Hill Cemetery
Presidency	Inauguration of James Buchanan Dred Scott v. Sandford List of federal judges appointed by James Buchanan Panic of 1857 Utah War Bleeding Kansas Lecompton Constitution 1858 United States elections Paraguay expedition United States House Select Committee to Investigate Alleged Corruptions in Government Corwin Amendment Lincoln transition
Public image	James Buchanan Memorial Buchanan's Birthplace State Park Buchanan, Michigan Buchanan, Georgia Buchanan, Missouri James Buchanan High School Raising Buchanan
Family	Harriet Lane (niece, acting First Lady) James Buchanan Henry (nephew)
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