The 1852 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 1 to June 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1852 election. The convention selected former Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire for president and Senator William R. King of Alabama for vice president. Four major candidates vied for the presidential nomination - Lewis Cass of Michigan, the nominee in 1848, who had the backing of northerners in support of the Compromise of 1850; James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, popular in the South as well as in his home state; Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, candidate of the expansionists and the railroad interests; and William L. Marcy of New York, whose strength was centered in his home state. Cass led on the first nineteen ballots of the convention, but was unable to win the necessary two-thirds majority. Buchanan pulled ahead on the twentieth ballot, but he too was unable to win a two-thirds majority. Pierce won votes for the first time on the 35th ballot, and was nominated almost unanimously on the 49th ballot. King was nominated on the second vice presidential ballot, defeating Senator Solomon W. Downs and several other candidates. The Democratic ticket went on to win the 1852 election, defeating the Whig ticket of Winfield Scott and William Alexander Graham. Convention proceedings The convention took place at the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts and was called to order by Democratic National Committee chairman Benjamin F. Hallett. Romulus M. Saunders served as the temporary convention chairman and John W. Davis served as the permanent convention president. Delegates at the convention approved a platform that largely mimicked the one adopted in 1848. Two notable additions were the denouncement of a national bank and an endorsement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Presidential nomination Dark Horse candidates Major Presidential candidates Minor Presidential candidates Declined Balloting As Democrats convened in Baltimore in June 1852, four major candidates vied for the nomination - Lewis Cass of Michigan, the nominee in 1848, who had the backing of northerners in support of the Compromise of 1850; James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, popular in the South as well as in his home state; Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, candidate of the expansionists and the railroad interests; and William L. Marcy of New York, whose strength