Grant defeated newspaper editor and Liberal Republican Horace Greeley, who also had the support of the Democratic Party. Greeley ran on a platform of cleaning up the government, noting several scandals during Grant’s first term. However, Grant still had enough good will from his Civil War record and the financial panic of 1873 had not happened yet. Greeley died on November 29, 1872, after the popular vote but before the electoral vote. Grant garnered 286 electoral votes to Greeley’s 66 pledged votes. Because Greeley had died, his 66 votes were spread among other candidates.