Editing Winfield Scott (section)

===Presidential election of 1840===
[[File:1839WhigPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Scott (purple) won three states on the first ballot of the [[1839 Whig National Convention]], but the convention nominated [[William Henry Harrison]] for president.]]

In the mid-1830s, Scott joined the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], which opponents of President Jackson established.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|p=141}} Scott's success in preventing war with Canada under Van Buren confirmed his popularity with the broad public, and in early 1839, newspapers began to mention him as a candidate for the presidential nomination at the [[1839 Whig National Convention]].{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=202–203}} By the time of the convention in December 1839, party leader [[Henry Clay]] and 1836 presidential candidate [[William Henry Harrison]] had emerged as the two front-runners, but Scott loomed as a potential compromise candidate if the convention deadlocked.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=571–572}} After several ballots, the convention nominated Harrison for president.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=206–207}}{{efn|During the balloting, Clay and Scott played cards with Whig politicians [[John J. Crittenden]] and [[George Evans (American politician)|George Evans]] at the [[Astor House]] hotel in [[New York City]].  When the group received word of Harrison's victory, Clay blamed his loss on Scott and struck him, with the blow landing on the shoulder, which had been wounded during Scott's participation in the [[Battle of Lundy's Lane]].  Afterward, Clay had to be physically removed from the hotel room.  Scott then sent Crittenden to Clay with Scott's challenge for a duel, but Crittenden reconciled them by convincing Clay to apologize.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=205–206}}}} Harrison went on to defeat Van Buren in the [[1840 United States presidential election|1840 presidential election]], but he died just one month into his term and was succeeded by Vice President [[John Tyler]].