William Henry Harrison won the presidency in the 1840 election and then proceeded to die 30 days after taking office. John Tyler the Vice Daddy took over. This was the first time a president had died in office. Tyler, a Whig immediately alienated the Whigs upon taking office by acting like a Democrat. He quickly lost support of his own party. Only 1 of his cabinet members didn’t quit on him. He had no hope of getting the 1844 Whig nomination. He flirted with the Democratic Party but they didn’t have much use for him either.

In May 1844 the Whigs would nominate 67 year old Henry Clay for his 3rd shot at the presidency. His running mate would be New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen who was supposed to balance the ticket. The talk about Clay all the time was that he was a gambling, boozing, womanizer. Frelinghuysen was noted as a christian gentleman. Clay wanted the presidency in the worst way. He would be in my opinion the most accomplished man to never win the office of POTUS.

In June 1844 the Democrats came together and going into the convention the thought was that former President Martin Van Buren was the frontrunner. The big issue of the day though was the annexation of Texas. Van Buren was against it and that finished him off. On the 9th ballot they turned to the Speaker of the House James K. Polk, 48 years old from Tennessee.  Polk hadn’t received any votes in the first 7 ballots. He was a compromise candidate.He was a protegé of former POTUS Andrew Jackson, his nickname was “Young Hickory”Polk was a former governor of Tennessee before becoming a congressman and Speaker of the House. Polk’s running mate was George Dallas, a Philadelphia lawyer who was a former Minister to Russia. Silas Wright a US Senator from New York had been the Vice Daddy pick but he turned it down so they chose Dallas.

The Whigs rejoiced having Polk to run against. They would chant “James K. Who?” and sing ” Ha, ha ha what a nominee is Jimmy Polk from Tennessee”

This campaign was not that dirty of one. The Democrats would bring up the 1824 ‘corrupt bargain’ against Clay. They would talk of his moral character. They even accused him of being the inventor of poker. The Whigs couldn’t do much against the colorless Polk, who was a pretty boring guy personally. He was a hard-working and loyal democrat, nothing in the closet to bring out on him.

Both Clay and Polk were slave owners what really could one party say about the other on this issue?  On the big issue of the annexation of Texas- Polk was a big time expansionist. He not only wanted Texas but the Oregon Territory too. Clay had opposed Texas before his nomination but attempted to change his tune to a more neutral one after getting the nomination.

On Election Day the popular vote was close, Polk brought in 49.5 % to Clay’s 48.1% but it was an easy victory in the Electoral College for James K. Polk. Polk won 15 states for a total of 170. Clay won 11 states for a total of 105 electoral votes. Jimmy Polk was headed to the White House.

[ note: Al Bundy would be a graduate of James K. Polk High School} I think Polk is our most underrated POTUS. He served only one term. He went in and accomplished his goals before going home to die.