Incumbent Whig President Millard Fillmore had acceded to the presidency after the death of President Zachary Taylor in 1850 . Due to Fillmore 's support of the Compromise of 1850 and his enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law , he was popular in the South but opposed by many Northern Whigs . On the 53rd ballot of the 1852 Whig National Convention , Scott defeated Fillmore to clinch the party 's nomination . The Democrats were divided among four major candidates , who traded leads through the first 48 ballots of the 1852 Democratic National Convention . On the 49th ballot , dark horse candidate Franklin Pierce won his party 's nomination . The Free Soil Party , a third party opposed to the extension of slavery into the territories , nominated Senator John P. Hale of New Hampshire
1852 Democratic National Convention
1852 Democratic National Convention
1852 United States presidential election