US Election 2024: Looking back at 1872, when sitting President's challenger died

The 1872 contest featured then President Ulysses S Grant vs. Horace Greeley, the founder-editor of The New York Tribune.

The 1872 presidential election in the United States, held on the same date (November 5) as the current one, was the most unusual one as it remains the only instance in the US history in which a major candidate died during the election process.

Ulysses S Grant, 18th US President and winner of the 1872 election (whitehouse.gov)

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The candidates: Ulysses S Grant, the 18th President and then incumbent, was renominated by the Republicans. However, a breakaway faction of the party, the Liberal Republicans, opposed to Grant's approach to Reconstruction and government reform, held their convention and picked Horace Greeley to challenge the former.

Showing rare unity with their arch-rivals, the Democrats also endorsed Greeley and formed a temporary alliance with the breakaway group.

Who was Horace Greeley?: He was the founder-editor of The New York Tribune and an outspoken critic of Grant, a former Popular Civil War general.

The result: While he was a fiery editor, Greeley had no political experience, and his blunt opinions didn't resonate well with many voters. On the other hand, Grant was popular and predictably, registered a landslide win. The latter also clinched several southern states that would later not go Republican until the 20th century.

Greeley dies: He died on November 29, just three weeks after the popular vote but before the Electoral College had voted. His health had started to deteriorate, resulting in his demise.

What happened next?: The electors previously committed to Greeley, voted for four other presidential candidates and eight nominees for vice president. The final result stood at 286 electoral votes (+14 invalidated) for Grant and none for Greeley (+66 votes invalidated/rejected); they ‘carried’ 29 states and none, respectively.