In the presidential election, Whig General William Henry Harrison defeated Democratic President Martin Van Buren.

[4] The incumbent Democratic candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was dubbed "Martin Van Ruin" because of his less-than-ideal previous term where he failed to address a financial crisis, ran for re-election over Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.

The Whigs chose William Henry Harrison because of his similarities to former president Andrew Jackson in the sense that he was a war hero[5] and a man of the people.

[6] This approach proved successful because William Henry Harrison won the election by dominating the electoral college, despite winning by only 5% of the popular vote.

[8] This marked the second of three times in American history where one party flipped both chambers of Congress and the Presidency in a single election, along with 1800 and 1952.