In the United States Presidential election of 1848, Whig candidate Zachary Taylor emerged victorious over Democratic candidate Lewis Cass with a 163/127 vote in the Electoral College. Taylor was the last elected Whig President, and Millard Fillmore—the Vice president who finished Taylor’s term after he died in 1850—was the last Whig to serve in the office at all.  In 1852, Democratic Party candidate Franklin Pierce trounced his Whig opponent, Winfield Scott, with a resounding 254/42 vote in the Electoral College.

By the next election in 1856, the upstart Republican Party—established in opposition to slavery—made an impressive showing for a newcomer. Democratic candidate James Buchanan took 174 electors, winning the election, but Republican candidate John Frémont took an impressive 114. Millard Fillmore, now with the ‘Know-Nothing’ party (successor to the already-defunct Whig party) carried one state (Maryland) and took only 8 electors.

Since the election of 1852 went to the Democrats, our system has been dominated by the same two parties: Republican and Democrat. Other parties have fielded candidates, even winning electors sometimes, but have never won election to the Presidency. Very few high political offices at either the federal or state levels have gone to people outside of these two parties in well over 150 years now. Third parties are, essentially, a minor distraction and an occasional force in local politics.

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