Henry Clay of Kentucky was the early favorite at the Whig convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December 1839. He was, however, a Mason, and anti-mason feeling was strong enough to block his nomination. In the final ballot Harrison was nominated with 148 votes to Clay's 90 and Scott's 16. John Tyler was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate. Meanwhile, President Van Buren was unanimously renominated by the Democrats.

The election of 1840 was the first campaign with slogans, songs and modern campaign paraphernalia. The slogan that became best known was "Tippecanoe and Tyler too". Tippecanoe was the battle that Harrison won against the Indians in 1811. The Whigs remade Harrison, who had been an uninspired military leader, into a great war hero.

The major issue in the election was the economy, and Harrison promised to get it moving again. Van Buren was so unpopular by this time that he even lost his home state.

Participation of Eligible Voters: 80.2%