9. Millard Fillmore
Election: 1856
Party: American Party
Votes / Percentage: 872,703/ 21.54
Electoral votes / Total: 8 / 296
Running mate: Andrew J. Donelson
Millard Fillmore, United States President from 1850 – 1853, was the last president not to be either a Democrat or a Republican. Fillmore who ranks 9th on our list of most successful third party presidential candidates in history was Vice-president to Zachary Taylor and inherited the office after Taylor’s sudden death in 1850. However, his Whig Party decided to nominate Winfield Scott as their candidate in the upcoming 1856 presidential elections, forcing Fillmore to seek support elsewhere. He found it in American Party and run as their candidate. This was one of the rare occasions where the incumbent president didn’t get his party’s nomination and ran as the third party candidate.
