Ulysses S. Grant won the 1872 presidential election with 286 electoral votes compared to 66 for Horace Greeley. Grant secured 55.6% of the national popular vote while Greeley received 43.8%. The final tally included 31 out of 37 states won by Grant in the Electoral College count.
Horace Greeley died several weeks after the election due to exhaustion following the death of his wife on the 2nd of October 1872. His running mate Gratz Brown caused public embarrassment at events throughout the tour. Greeley struggled to handle criticism from opponents effectively as the campaign dragged forward.
Horace Greeley secured 334 delegates on the sixth ballot of the Liberal Republican convention held in May 1872. The final count gave Greeley 482 delegates while Charles Francis Adams, Sr., received only 187. Lyman Trumbull surged on the third ballot before Greeley overtook Adams on the second ballot with 245 votes against Adams's 243.
Horace Greeley lost the 1872 presidential election because he suffered a personal tragedy when his wife fell ill and died shortly after falling sick on the 2nd of October 1872. Exhaustion weighed heavily on Greeley as he continued traveling and Demoralization set in as the campaign dragged forward. His running mate Gratz Brown caused public embarrassment at events including fainting before a gathering in New York City.
Gratz Brown attended gatherings while intoxicated and made policy errors throughout the tour. At a campaign picnic, Brown sliced and buttered a watermelon while drunk before fainting before a large gathering in New York City. These actions undermined the Liberal Republican message entirely and damaged the ticket's credibility significantly.