The 1852 Election Ends the Whig Party

 

Although Charles Dickens’ Bleak House was published in England in 1852, the title could have easily referred to the “house divided” across the Atlantic. 1852 was an election year, coming on the heels of the contentious and prolonged debate regarding Mr. Clay’s 1850 Compromise. Clay, worn out from many years of often bitter struggle, died while the Whig Party was meeting to select a new presidential candidate. The lack of decisive political leadership in 1852 may have greatly contributed to the churning national mood that would shortly erupt in violence.

 

Many Candidates but Few Leaders in 1852

 

There were several contenders for the Whig Party nomination, among them the sitting president Millard Fillmore, and Daniel Webster. Although Clay was ailing, he also sought one final chance to live in the White House, having lost three prior elections. Webster’s chances for the nomination were severely limited, having supported the 1850 Compromise against the wishes of Northeast conservatives. Leading the New York Whig delegation in 1952, William Henry Seward denied the New York delegate votes to Webster as retribution for Webster’s stand on the legislation.

 

The Whigs followed a formula that had led to two prior successes in presidential elections: they selected a military hero. In 1840, not long after the Whig Party was founded to oppose the policies of Andrew Jackson, the party successfully elected William Henry Harrison, a war hero from the War of 1812 and associated with the battle of Tippecanoe. In 1848, the Whigs again triumphed with the election of General Zachary Taylor, the hero of the Battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican War. Both Harrison and Taylor died while in office.

 

Hoping to repeat these successes, the Whigs nominated “old fuss n’ feathers,” General Winfield Scott, described by a writer at the time as “the smallest and feeblest of created men.” But Scott’s career dated back to the War of 1812 and he commanded all American forces during the Mexican War, landing at Vera Cruz and marching to victory against Santa Anna. Unfortunately, General Scott had no charisma and broke the unwritten rules of presidential campaigning by traveling the country and giving speeches under the guise of visiting federal military establishments.

 

The Democrats in 1852

 

The Democrats fared no better than the Whigs in 1852. In the North, marginal party leaders like Lewis Cass of Michigan, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and William Marcy of New York sought the nomination. Even Stephen Douglas of Illinois, who received 24 delegate votes on the 9^th ballot, had ambitions to become chief executive. It took 46 delegate ballots to nominate a compromise candidate, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. The Democrats were still operating under the two-thirds rule: a 2/3rds majority was required to secure the nomination.

 

Pierce’s nomination gave the Democrats a military connection to counter that of Winfield Scott: Franklin Pierce had served briefly as a general during the Mexican War and had fought at Vera Cruz. Although addicted to alcohol, Pierce would go on to win the election with 254 electoral votes to 42 for Scott. His Vice President was William Rufus King of Alabama and his Cabinet reflected Southern interests; Jefferson Davis was his Secretary of War.

 

The Bitter Pill of Victory in 1852

 

Only 215,664 popular votes separated Pierce from Scott. The third party candidate, Senator John Parker Hale, also of New Hampshire, received 155,825 as the standard bearer of the Free Soil Party. 1852 demonstrated a nation divided. It was also the year Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was first serialized, further dividing the national house.

 

Pierce would sign the Kansas-Nebraska Act, utterly dividing the nation as well as political parties. Out of the embers of the 1852 election and the Kansas Act, a new party would be born. The Republicans, making a debut in the 1856 election, would ultimately see Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860.

 

Sources:

 

Paul F. Boller, Jr. Presidential Campaigns From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Richard Hofstadter, Great Issues in American History From the Revolution to the Civil War, 1765-1865 (Vintage Books/Random House, 1958).

Page Smith, The Nation Comes of Age: A People’s History of the Ante-Bellum Years Vol. 4, (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981).

First published March 23, 2009 in Suite101 by M.Streich. copyright