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CLAY, HENRY. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("H. CLAY") TO MESSRS. P.S. GILPIN, JOS. F. BABCOCK, THOMAS L. TROWBRIDGE &C. (CONNECTICUT SUPPORTERS OF CLAY'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN), ASHLAND, [KENTUCKY], 17 DECEMBER 1844. 3 1/2 PAGES, 4TO, WATERED SILK RED MOROCCO GILT PROTECTIVE FOLDER, MATCHING QUARTER MOROCCO FOLDING CASE.
CLAY'S LAST HURRAH
An exceptionally long, thoughtful letter about his defeat a month earlier in the 1844 Presidential election, and speculating on the consequences of the Presidency of his opponent, James K. Polk. Clay has seen "the proceedings of a public meeting" in New Haven" to protest "the late Presidential election. He commends his Connecticut supporters for their "patriotic spirit," which is "worthy of its renowned seat of learning, and worthy of the Whig cause....I share with you, Gentlemen, in regrets on account of the unexpected issue of the recent election.....The great importance of the event arises out of the respective principles in contest between the two parties, [and] the consequences to which it may lead...."
Clay evokes the principles embodied in the Whig Party platform: distribution of proceeds from the sale of public lands, high protective tariffs, and the avoidance of war with Mexico over the annexation of Texas. Sectional divisions between the North and South were a factor: "The Southern and Southwestern portions of the union had been reproached by the North....the Slave States were fast subscribing to the justice and expediency of a Tariff for Revenue, with discriminations for protection.....Instead of cordially meeting the Slave States and placing the principle of protection upon impregnable and durable ground,...the free States...abandoned what was believed to be their own cherished policy...." Whig policies, Clay asserts, "aimed at the purity of the Government [by checking the Presidential veto and limiting the President to a single term], the greater prosperity of the People, and additional security to their liberties and to the Union. And with all, the preservation of the peace, the honor and the good faith of the Union. The Whigs were most anxious to avoid a Foreign war [with Mexico], for the sake of acquiring a foreign territory [Texas]....
"But our opponents [the Democrats] have prevailed in the late contest," Clay concludes, and they "ought to have a fair trial. Let us even indulge an anxious desire that the evils which we have apprehended may not be realized, that the peace of our Country may be undisturbed, its honor remain unsullied, and its 'prosperity' continue unimpeded...."
Clay, who had lost the Presidency to J.Q. Adams in 1824 and to Jackson in 1832, was the Whig candidate in the 1844 elections. Although victory over Polk and the Democrats seemed certain at the outset of the campaign, Clay's opposition to the annexation of Texas proved a severe liability; a third-party candidate, the Abolitionist-Liberty candidate, James Birney, further undercut the Whigs. In the end, Clay won the electoral votes of 11 states, including Connecticut, losing by a margin of only 2 of the popular vote.
CLAY'S LAST HURRAH
An exceptionally long, thoughtful letter about his defeat a month earlier in the 1844 Presidential election, and speculating on the consequences of the Presidency of his opponent, James K. Polk. Clay has seen "the proceedings of a public meeting" in New Haven" to protest "the late Presidential election. He commends his Connecticut supporters for their "patriotic spirit," which is "worthy of its renowned seat of learning, and worthy of the Whig cause....I share with you, Gentlemen, in regrets on account of the unexpected issue of the recent election.....The great importance of the event arises out of the respective principles in contest between the two parties, [and] the consequences to which it may lead...."
Clay evokes the principles embodied in the Whig Party platform: distribution of proceeds from the sale of public lands, high protective tariffs, and the avoidance of war with Mexico over the annexation of Texas. Sectional divisions between the North and South were a factor: "The Southern and Southwestern portions of the union had been reproached by the North....the Slave States were fast subscribing to the justice and expediency of a Tariff for Revenue, with discriminations for protection.....Instead of cordially meeting the Slave States and placing the principle of protection upon impregnable and durable ground,...the free States...abandoned what was believed to be their own cherished policy...." Whig policies, Clay asserts, "aimed at the purity of the Government [by checking the Presidential veto and limiting the President to a single term], the greater prosperity of the People, and additional security to their liberties and to the Union. And with all, the preservation of the peace, the honor and the good faith of the Union. The Whigs were most anxious to avoid a Foreign war [with Mexico], for the sake of acquiring a foreign territory [Texas]....
"But our opponents [the Democrats] have prevailed in the late contest," Clay concludes, and they "ought to have a fair trial. Let us even indulge an anxious desire that the evils which we have apprehended may not be realized, that the peace of our Country may be undisturbed, its honor remain unsullied, and its 'prosperity' continue unimpeded...."
Clay, who had lost the Presidency to J.Q. Adams in 1824 and to Jackson in 1832, was the Whig candidate in the 1844 elections. Although victory over Polk and the Democrats seemed certain at the outset of the campaign, Clay's opposition to the annexation of Texas proved a severe liability; a third-party candidate, the Abolitionist-Liberty candidate, James Birney, further undercut the Whigs. In the end, Clay won the electoral votes of 11 states, including Connecticut, losing by a margin of only 2 of the popular vote.