A dissident faction of the Federalist Party attempted to nominate former vice presidential candidate Rufus King over Clinton, but only succeeded in doing so in Virginia.

Clinton won the Federalist bastion of New England as well as three Mid-Atlantic states, but Madison dominated the South and took Pennsylvania.

Residual military conflict resulting from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe had been steadily worsening throughout James Madison's first term, with the British Empire and the French Empire both ignoring the neutrality rights of the United States at sea by seizing American ships and looking for supposed British deserters in a practice known as impressment.

The British provided additional provocations by impressing American seamen, maintaining forts within United States territory in the Northwest, and supporting Native Americans at war with the United States in both the Northwest and Southwest.

Initially, these hopes were pinned upon Vice President George Clinton, but his poor health and advanced age of 72 eliminated his chances.

Eighty-three of the one hundred thirty-eight of the Democratic-Republican members of the United States Congress attended the nominating caucus in May 1812.

[4] When the New York caucus did meet on May 29, it was dominated by anti-war Democratic-Republicans, and nominated DeWitt Clinton for the presidency almost unanimously.

The matter of how to conduct his campaign also became a major problem for Clinton, especially with regards to the war with the British after June 12.

[5] Federalist candidates: Before Clinton entered the race as an alternative to President Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall was a favorite for the Federalist presidential nomination, a relatively popular figure who could carry much of the Northeast while potentially taking Virginia and North Carolina as well.

A Federalist caucus in Pennsylvania chose to nominate Jared Ingersoll, the Attorney General of the state, as Clinton's vice presidential running-mate, a move Clinton decided to support considering the importance of Pennsylvania's electors.

Rufus King, a former diplomat and Representative, had led an effort at the September Caucus to nominate a Federalist ticket for the election that year, though he was ultimately unsuccessful.

Still, some wished to enter King's name into the race under the Federalist label, and while very little came of it, it caused problems for the Clinton campaign in two states.

However, a coalition of Democratic-Republicans and Federalists would defeat the motion and succeed in nominating a slate pledged to Clinton.

(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.