The American Presidential Election of 1848

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The 16th episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. In 1848, one war hero takes command of a presidential election, despite never voting in an election himself.

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The 16th Presidential election in American history took place on Tuesday, November 7th, 1848. This was the first election that took place on the same day in every state. By law from this point forward, Election Day would be on a Tuesday.

James Polk had spent the past four years kicking butts and taking names. Every major objective he had going into office was accomplished. He had got half of Oregon without going to war with Britain, got the northern half of Mexico by bullying them into a war, reducing the tariff, and creating an independent treasury. Satisfied with accomplishing his goals, he promised not to run for re-election. His health was actually declining anyway, and he would die of cholera three months after leaving office, having the shortest retirement of all Presidents in American history.

In his place, the Democratic Party nominated Lewis Cass, who since 1844 had become a Senator for Michigan. Cass beat out Martin Van Buren for the nomination, who was no longer having luck with the political party he helped create. The Democrats nominated William Orlando Butler to run with Cass, a general who had recently fought in the Mexican American War.

Martin Van Buren, upset and perhaps bitter at losing to Cass for the nomination, found a new political party, the Free Soil Party, led by Salmon P. Chase and John Parker Hale. Mostly based out of New York, the party called for ending the expansion of slavery out west. Most of their support came from anti-slavery Democrats, but some Whigs also joined their cause. Van Buren was their nominee, with Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams, as his running mate.

Partially because of the rise of the Free Soil Party, the Liberty Party lost most of its support. They did nominate Gerrit Smith, brother-in-law to their former presidential nominee, James Birney. Keep in the family!

What about the Whigs? Well, General Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, was an attractive candidate because he was a war hero, leading American forces to victories in the Mexican American War. Here’s the thing, though. He wasn’t very political, and had never even voted in an election himself. In fact, this is why Taylor was courted by both the Whig Party and the Democratic Party- few knew exactly where he stood on major issues.

Taylor decided to declare himself as a Whig, though, and easily won their nomination, beating out big names like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and fellow Mexican American war hero Winfield Scott. Millard Fillmore, a former U.S. Representative and the Comptroller of New York, was Taylor’s running mate.

The campaigns were pretty chill this year, with no major issues that sharply divided the parties. I say that because the Free Soil Party had a small chance of actually winning because they weren’t on the ballot in several states. In the early part of the the Mexican American War, the Whigs mostly criticized James Polk for his recklessness that led to the war. However, after the United States kicked butt in the war, now the Whigs had seemed to forget this, and were glorifying General Taylor’s war success. Taylor himself was pretty vague about where he stood on the issues, though.