United States presidential election, 1844 | Wikipedia audio article
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Date: 2018-12-02

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United States presidential election, 1844

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SUMMARY
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The United States presidential election of 1844 was the 15th quadrennial presidential election, held from November 1, to December 4, 1844. Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on the controversial issues of slavery and the annexation of the Republic of Texas.
Incumbent President John Tyler's pursuit of Texas annexation threatened to undermine the unity of both the Whig and the Democratic parties, as the annexation of Texas would expand the institution of slavery in the United States. At the time, the two major parties each had wings in the Northern United States and the Southern United States, but the possibility of the expansion of slavery threatened the ability of both parties to reach inter-sectional compromises. Expelled by the Whig Party after clashing with their domestic policies, Tyler hoped to use the annexation of Texas to propel him to a second term despite the controversial nature of the issue.
The early front-runner for the Democratic nomination was former President Martin Van Buren, but his rejection of Texas annexation damaged his candidacy. Due to opposition from former President Andrew Jackson and most Southern delegations, Van Buren was unable to win the necessary two-thirds vote at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. The convention instead settled on former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee, who emerged as the first dark horse nominee. Polk ran on a platform that embraced America's popular commitment to territorial expansionism, often referred to as Manifest Destiny. With the nomination of the pro-annexation Polk, Tyler dropped out of the race and supported the Democratic candidate. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, a long-time party leader who adopted an anti-annexation platform. Though a slave owner himself, Clay denounced annexation as a threat to North-South sectional unity, as well as a potential cause of war between the United States and Mexico. His attempts during the campaign to finesse his anti-annexation position on Texas alienated many voters.
Polk successfully linked the United States–British boundary dispute over the partition of the Oregon Territory with the Texas annexation debate. In doing so, the Democratic Party nominee united the anti-slavery Northern expansionists, who demanded Oregon as free-soil, with pro-slavery Southern expansionists, who insisted on acquiring Texas as a slave state. In the national popular vote, Polk beat Clay by less than 40,000 votes, a margin of 1.4%. James G. Birney of the anti-slavery Liberty Party took 2.3% of the vote. Polk won the electoral vote 170–105, but the flip of several thousand votes in closely contested New York would have delivered the election to Clay. In the aftermath of the election, Polk presided over the annexation of Texas, which triggered the Mexican–American War.