<P> Van Buren easily won renomination for a second term at the 1840 Democratic National Convention, but he and his party faced a difficult election in 1840 . Van Buren's presidency had been a difficult affair, with the U.S. economy mired in a severe downturn, and other divisive issues, such as slavery, western expansion, and tensions with Great Britain, providing opportunities for Van Buren's political opponents--including some of his fellow Democrats--to criticize his actions . Although Van Buren's renomination was never in doubt, Democratic strategists began to question the wisdom of keeping Johnson on the ticket . Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was a liability and insisted on former House Speaker James K. Polk of Tennessee as Van Buren's new running mate . Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson, who was popular with workers and radicals in the North and added military experience to the ticket, which might prove important against likely Whig nominee William Henry Harrison . Rather than re-nominating Johnson, the Democratic convention decided to allow state Democratic Party leaders to select the vice-presidential candidates for their states . </P> <P> Van Buren hoped that the Whigs would nominate Clay for president, which would allow Van Buren to cast the 1840 campaign as a clash between Van Buren's Independent Treasury system and Clay's support for a national bank . However, rather than nominating longtime party spokesmen like Clay and Daniel Webster, the 1839 Whig National Convention nominated Harrison, who had served in various governmental positions during his career and had earned notoriety for his military leadership in the Battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812 . Whig leaders like William Seward and Thaddeus Stevens believed that Harrison's war record would effectively counter the popular appeals of the Democratic Party . For vice president, the Whigs nominated former Senator John Tyler of Virginia . Clay was deeply disappointed by his defeat at the convention, but he nonetheless threw his support behind Harrison . </P> <P> Whigs presented Harrison as the antithesis of the president, whom they derided as ineffective, corrupt, and effete . Whigs also depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat living in high style in the White House, while they used images of Harrison in a log cabin sipping cider to convince voters that he was a man of the people . They threw such jabs as "Van, Van, is a used - up man" and "Martin Van Ruin" and ridiculed him in newspapers and cartoons . Issues of policy were not absent from the campaign; the Whigs derided the alleged executive overreaches of Jackson and Van Buren, while also calling for a national bank and higher tariffs . Democrats attempted to campaign on the Independent Treasury system, but the onset of deflation undercut these arguments . The enthusiasm for "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," coupled with the country's severe economic crisis, made it impossible for Van Buren to win a second term . Harrison won by a popular vote of 1,275,612 to 1,130,033, and an electoral vote margin of 234 to 60 . An astonishing 80 percent of eligible voters went to the polls on election day . Van Buren actually won more votes than he had in 1836, but the Whig success in attracting new voters more than canceled out Democratic gains . Additionally, Whigs won majorities for the first time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate . </P> <P> On the expiration of his term, Van Buren returned to his estate of Lindenwald in Kinderhook . He continued to closely watch political developments, including the battle between Clay and President Tyler, who took office after Harrison's death in April 1841 . Though undecided on another presidential run, Van Buren made several moves calculated to maintain his support, including a trip to the South and West during which he met with Jackson, former Speaker of the House James K. Polk, and others . President Tyler, James Buchanan, Levi Woodbury, and others loomed as potential challengers for the 1844 Democratic nomination, but it was Calhoun who posed the most formidable obstacle . Van Buren remained silent on major public issues like the debate over the Tariff of 1842, hoping to arrange for the appearance of a draft movement for his presidential candidacy . President John Tyler made annexation of Texas his chief foreign policy goal, and many Democrats, particularly in the South, were anxious to quickly complete the annexation of Texas . After an explosion on the USS Princeton killed Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur in February 1844, Tyler brought Calhoun into his cabinet to direct foreign affairs . Like Tyler, Calhoun pursued the annexation of Texas to upend the presidential race and to extend slavery into new territories . Shortly after taking office, Secretary of State Calhoun negotiated an annexation treaty between the United States and Texas . Van Buren had hoped he would not have to take a public stand on annexation, but as the Texas question came to dominate U.S. politics, he decided to make his views on the issue public . Though he believed that his public acceptance of annexation would likely help him win the 1844 Democratic nomination, Van Buren thought that annexation would inevitably lead to an unjust war with Mexico . In a public letter published shortly after Henry Clay also announced his opposition to the annexation treaty, Van Buren articulated his views on the Texas question . </P>

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