The Election of 1844
"In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump"
-the first verse of the song James K. Polk by They Might Be Giants
Okay, so those lyrics give away what happened at the Democratic nominating convention held in Baltimore on May 27, 1844, in an election year when Democrat James K. Polk, a former Speaker of the House and former Governor of Tennessee, defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed.
The incumbent President in 1844 was John Tyler, who had attained the office upon the death of William Henry Harrison. Although Tyler had been nominated on a Whig ticket, his policies had alienated the Whigs and they actually expelled him from their party on September 13, 1841. He presided for the next three years without a home in either of the two major parties.
Tyler looked for an issue that he hoped would create a viable third party to support his bid for the presidency in 1844. He found that issue in the annexation of Texas. When Texas achieved independence in 1836, it requested to be annexed by the United States, but opposition from the northern states prevented this from happening and in 1838 Texas withdrew its request. In 1843, Tyler and his newly-appointed Secretary of State, Abel P. Upshur, raised the matter again and started negotiations on annexation. When Upshur was killed in an accident on February 28, 1844, the treaty was almost complete. Tyler appointed John C. Calhoun Secretary of State as Upshur's replacement, and Calhoun completed the treaty. It was presented to the Senate on April 22.
Everyone assumed that Martin Van Buren, the choice of former President and elder statesman Andrew Jackson, would be the Democratic candidate. Van Buren held a slim majority of delegates on the first ballot, but his public stand against immediate annexation of Texas had cost him a lot of support. The convention re-established the rule that a Democratic candidate must receive a 2/3 majority of delegates to receive the nomination. As it became clear that too many delegates were hostile to Van Buren for him ever to receive the necessary majority, his support collapsed. Lewis Cass then became the front-runner, Cass couldn't gain a two-thirds majority either. It became obvious that a compromise candidate would be required. On the eighth ballot, James K. Polk, who had intended to seek the vice presidential nomination, was put forth as someone everyone could settle on. He hadn't alienated any of the other candidates and Polk won the nomination.
The Democrats chose Silas Wright as Polk's running mate, but Wright refused the nomination. George Mifflin Dallas, who had finished a close second to Wright in the balloting, was then offered a spot on the ticket, and he accepted.
When he learned of his nomination in a letter, Polk replied: “It has been well observed that the office of President of the United States should neither be sought nor declined. I have never sought it, nor should I feel at liberty to decline it, if conferred upon me by the voluntary suffrages of my fellow citizens.”
The Whigs had held their convention on May 1. Henry Clay was the party's most prominent congressional leader, and he was chosen on the first ballot despite his having lost two prior presidential elections: in 1824 to John Quincy Adams as a Democrat-Republican, then in 1832 to Andrew Jackson as a National Republican. Theodore Frelinghuysen was nominated as Clay's running mate.
Polk ran on a platform that embraced American territorial expansionism, an idea soon to be referred to as Manifest Destiny. At their convention, the Democrats called for the annexation of Texas and asserted that the United States had a “clear and unquestionable” claim to “the whole” of Oregon. By tying the Oregon boundary dispute to the more controversial Texas debate, the Democrats appealed to both Northern expansionists (who were more adamant about the Oregon boundary) and Southern expansionists (who were more focused on annexing Texas as a slave state). Polk went on to win a narrow victory over Clay, in part, because Clay had taken a stand against expansion.
Tyler spent much of the summer with his young new bride on their honeymoon in New York City. He also received appeals from Democrats to withdraw, including a letter from Andrew Jackson. Tyler saw the writing on the wall and withdrew from the race on August 25.
On election day Polk received 49.5% of the vote and 170 electoral votes. Clay finished second with 48.1% of the popular votes and 105 electoral votes. Third party candidate James G. Birney of the Liberty party received just 2.3% of the vote and no electoral votes, but it is believed that he split the vote in his home state of New York, siphoning enough votes from Clay for Polk to win the state and the election.
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump"
-the first verse of the song James K. Polk by They Might Be Giants
Okay, so those lyrics give away what happened at the Democratic nominating convention held in Baltimore on May 27, 1844, in an election year when Democrat James K. Polk, a former Speaker of the House and former Governor of Tennessee, defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed.
The incumbent President in 1844 was John Tyler, who had attained the office upon the death of William Henry Harrison. Although Tyler had been nominated on a Whig ticket, his policies had alienated the Whigs and they actually expelled him from their party on September 13, 1841. He presided for the next three years without a home in either of the two major parties.
Tyler looked for an issue that he hoped would create a viable third party to support his bid for the presidency in 1844. He found that issue in the annexation of Texas. When Texas achieved independence in 1836, it requested to be annexed by the United States, but opposition from the northern states prevented this from happening and in 1838 Texas withdrew its request. In 1843, Tyler and his newly-appointed Secretary of State, Abel P. Upshur, raised the matter again and started negotiations on annexation. When Upshur was killed in an accident on February 28, 1844, the treaty was almost complete. Tyler appointed John C. Calhoun Secretary of State as Upshur's replacement, and Calhoun completed the treaty. It was presented to the Senate on April 22.
Everyone assumed that Martin Van Buren, the choice of former President and elder statesman Andrew Jackson, would be the Democratic candidate. Van Buren held a slim majority of delegates on the first ballot, but his public stand against immediate annexation of Texas had cost him a lot of support. The convention re-established the rule that a Democratic candidate must receive a 2/3 majority of delegates to receive the nomination. As it became clear that too many delegates were hostile to Van Buren for him ever to receive the necessary majority, his support collapsed. Lewis Cass then became the front-runner, Cass couldn't gain a two-thirds majority either. It became obvious that a compromise candidate would be required. On the eighth ballot, James K. Polk, who had intended to seek the vice presidential nomination, was put forth as someone everyone could settle on. He hadn't alienated any of the other candidates and Polk won the nomination.
The Democrats chose Silas Wright as Polk's running mate, but Wright refused the nomination. George Mifflin Dallas, who had finished a close second to Wright in the balloting, was then offered a spot on the ticket, and he accepted.
When he learned of his nomination in a letter, Polk replied: “It has been well observed that the office of President of the United States should neither be sought nor declined. I have never sought it, nor should I feel at liberty to decline it, if conferred upon me by the voluntary suffrages of my fellow citizens.”
The Whigs had held their convention on May 1. Henry Clay was the party's most prominent congressional leader, and he was chosen on the first ballot despite his having lost two prior presidential elections: in 1824 to John Quincy Adams as a Democrat-Republican, then in 1832 to Andrew Jackson as a National Republican. Theodore Frelinghuysen was nominated as Clay's running mate.
Polk ran on a platform that embraced American territorial expansionism, an idea soon to be referred to as Manifest Destiny. At their convention, the Democrats called for the annexation of Texas and asserted that the United States had a “clear and unquestionable” claim to “the whole” of Oregon. By tying the Oregon boundary dispute to the more controversial Texas debate, the Democrats appealed to both Northern expansionists (who were more adamant about the Oregon boundary) and Southern expansionists (who were more focused on annexing Texas as a slave state). Polk went on to win a narrow victory over Clay, in part, because Clay had taken a stand against expansion.
Tyler spent much of the summer with his young new bride on their honeymoon in New York City. He also received appeals from Democrats to withdraw, including a letter from Andrew Jackson. Tyler saw the writing on the wall and withdrew from the race on August 25.
On election day Polk received 49.5% of the vote and 170 electoral votes. Clay finished second with 48.1% of the popular votes and 105 electoral votes. Third party candidate James G. Birney of the Liberty party received just 2.3% of the vote and no electoral votes, but it is believed that he split the vote in his home state of New York, siphoning enough votes from Clay for Polk to win the state and the election.