The Whig Party in the Pierce Administration
Throughout the Pierce administration, the Whig Party floundered. In the elections of 1852-1853, the Whigs lost an additional dozen seats in Congress on top of their massive losses in the 1850-51 cycle, reducing them to a 157-71 deficit. When the public reacted negatively to the Pierce administration in the midterm elections of 1854-55, however, new political parties emerged to take advantage of the tumult. Political leaders of the time believed that the Whig Party was dead.
Contributing to the problem was the loss of Whig leaders to other political parties. In the deep South, especially Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, the most important Whig leaders joined the Democrats. The free states were more fluid, as the Republican Party had not collected the various minor parties into its coalition by 1855. An exception was in New York State, where the Whig and Republican state conventions met concurrently in Syracuse on 9/26/1855 and fused, bringing to an end the Whig Party in that state [NYT 9/27/1855].
By early 1856, the remaining Whig leaders were discussing what to do. The Whig National Committee met on 3/10/1856; it rejected the Syracuse convention's merger with the Republicans but took no other major action. [NYT 3/11/1856]
Whigs in Kentucky, a traditional Whig stronghold, held their state convention on 4/17/1856. They declared that the party was not dead and called a national convention of the party. At this time, the remaining Whigs were called the "Straight Whigs," although that name was soon replaced by the term "Old Line Whigs." [NYT 4/18/1856]
Throughout the summer of 1856, various Whig state conventions were held to choose delegates to the Whig National Convention. Three general possibilities were considered by the conventions: nominating former Whig President Millard Fillmore, endorsing the candidacy of the Democrat James Buchanan, or nominating someone else. It seems ironic that a party struggling for its existence would even consider endorsing the nominee of another party (as both Fillmore and Buchanan were), but as the conventions played out, it was becoming clear that Fillmore was the clear leader. He won the endorsement of Whig state conventions in Maryland [NYT 7/11/1856], Virginia [NYT 7/18/1856], New York [NYT 8/15/1856], Massachusetts [NYT 9/4/1856], North Carolina and Georgia [NYT 9/17/1856]. Some states did not specifically endorse but were clearly anti-Buchanan: Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee [NYT 9/17/1856]. The Kentucky convention voted 1-16 (each county receiving one vote) against endorsing Fillmore.
The National Convention
The 5th Whig Party National Convention assembled in the Hall of the Maryland Institute in Baltimore MD. Twenty six states sent 150 delegates.
Temporary Chairman: Washington Hunt NY
Permanent Chairman: Edward Bates MO
Throughout the convention, various Whig leaders such as Francis Granger and William A. Graham addressed the convention and announced their intention to support Fillmore, who had already been nominated by the American Party. On the second day of the convention, the platform committee reported to the floor with a proposed platform. The planks included one stating that the convention nominated Millard Fillmore for President and Andrew Donelson for VP. Some delegates objected to using the platform as a means of nominating candidates, but since they had the support of the majority of the delegates the means was moot. With the passage of the platform, Fillmore and Donelson were declared the nominees of the Party. [NYT 9/17-19/1856]
4th Whig National Convention (1852)
Popular Vote of 1856
Electoral Vote of 1856
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