In 1848 , Butler was the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United States . At the 1848 Democratic National Convention , delegate Francis P. Blair was a leader of the movement to put Butler on the ticket with Lewis Cass , and Butler won the nomination on the first ballot over John A. Quitman and William R. King . In the general election , the ticket of Cass and Butler was defeated by Whig candidates Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore . Butler was the first non-incumbent Democratic vice presidential candidate to lose election
1848 Democratic National Convention
1848 Democratic National Convention
William Orlando Butler