Van Buren was initially the leading candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination again in 1844, but his continued opposition to the annexation of Texas angered Southern Democrats, leading to the nomination of James K. Polk. Van Buren led a third-party ticket in 1848, and his candidacy most likely helped Whig nominee Zachary Taylor defeat Democrat Lewis Cass. Van Buren returned to the Democrats after 1848, but grew increasingly opposed to slavery, and became one of the party's outspoken abolitionists. He supported Abraham Lincoln's policies during the American Civil War. He died in Kinderhook in July 1862, at age 79.