1808 United States presidential election

The 1808 United States presidential election was the sixth quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 4, to Wednesday, December 7, 1808. The Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney decisively.

Madison had served as Secretary of State since President Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801. Jefferson, who had declined to run for a third term, threw his strong support behind Madison, a fellow Virginian. Sitting Vice President George Clinton and former Ambassador James Monroe both challenged Madison for leadership of the party, but Madison won his party's nomination and Clinton was re-nominated as vice president. The Federalists chose to re-nominate Pinckney, a former ambassador who had served as the party's 1804 nominee, again alongside Rufus King.

Despite the unpopularity of the Embargo Act of 1807, Madison won the vast majority of electoral votes outside of the Federalist stronghold of New England. Clinton received six electoral votes for president from his home state of New York. This election was the first of two instances in American history in which a new president was selected but the incumbent vice president won re-election, the other being in 1828.

Federalist Party nomination
The Federalist caucus met in August 1808 and re-nominated the party's 1804 ticket, which consisted of President Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and Vice President Alexander Hamilton of New York.

Presidential candidates

 * James Madison (Virginia), Former Governor of Virginia
 * George Clinton (New York), Former Governor of New York
 * Edward Livingston (New York), Former Mayor of New York City

Vice-presidential candidates

 * George Clinton (New York), Former Governor of New York
 * John Langdon (New Hampshire), Former U.S. Senator

Caucus
Senator Stephen R. Bradley, who had chaired the congressional nominating caucus during the 1804 presidential election, made a call for the 1808 caucus to the 146 Democratic-Republican members of the United States Congress and Federalist allies. The caucus was attended by 89 to 94 members of Congress.

The caucus was held in January 1808, and Secretary of State James Madison won the presidential nomination with the support of President Thomas Jefferson against James Monroe and Vice President George Clinton. The caucus voted to give the vice-presidential nomination to Clinton against his main opponent John Langdon although Clinton's supporters believed that he would receive the Federalist's presidential nomination, but it instead went to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. A committee of fifteen members was selected to manage Madison's campaign.

Seventeen Democratic-Republicans in Congress opposed Madison's selection and the caucus system whose authority to select presidential and vice-presidential candidates was disputed. Clinton also opposed the caucus system. Monroe was nominated by a group of Virginia Democratic-Republicans, and although he did not actively try to defeat Madison, he also refused to withdraw from the race. Clinton was also supported by a group of New York Democratic-Republicans for president even as he remained the party's official vice presidential candidate.