1844 Election (The Hearse at Monticello)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Texas and taxes weigh heavily in the minds of all Americans as the nation approaches the 1844 presidential election, with President Johnson's efforts to annex the Republic of Texas and his inability to end the current recession dominating the forefront of the campaign. To succeed Johnson, the Democrats have nominated Senator Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, who has previously served in both the Van Buren and Johnson cabinets. While Woodbury allowed Northern Democrats to believe he would oppose the annexation of Texas during the fight for the Democratic nomination, he has since announced that his administration would support acquiring both Texas and the British Oregon Territory. Soon after Woodbury's new position became known, Constitutional Party nominee John Tyler dropped out of the race and endorsed the Democratic ticket. Woodbury is also supportive of an Independent Treasury system as a way to revive the moribund economy.
Enraged by Woodbury's "treachery", anti-slavery advocated formed the new Liberty Party, which has chosen one-term Congressman John P. Hale as its candidate. In addition to opposing the annexation of Texas, Hale supports an independent Treasury similar to Woodbury's, and (controversially) supports the abolition of slavery everywhere in the United States.
Heightened tensions between the Hale and Woodbury camps have frightened the nation's moderates, who fear the Texas issue may well lead to war between the North and South. These individuals have flocked to the candidacy of Henry Clay, who in this fateful hour is campaigning on the slogan "The Union, and Nothing But The Union". Forcefully opposed to the annexation of Texas, Clay is attempting to appeal to his countrymen's better natures, chastening them not to drag the nation into civil war over a sectional dispute.
The fate of the nation is in your hands. Choose with care.

[Senator Spiral]

Hale!

[Mr. Smith]

Hale!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hale!

[Intell]

Hale!

[Zioneer]

I want the Oregon territory, so Woodbury.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Bump

[ElectionsGuy]

Hale!

[TDAS04]

Hale!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

1844 Presidential Election

Congressman John P. Hale (Liberty-New Hampshire)/ Fmr. State Representative James G. Birney (Liberty-New York): 154 Electoral votes; 51.9% popular votes
Senator Henry Clay (Whig-Kentucky)/ Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen (Whig-New Jersey): 71 Electoral Votes; 25.9% popular votes
Senator Levi Woodbury (Democratic-New Hampshire)/ Secretary of War James K. Polk (Democratic-Tennessee): 50 Electoral Votes; 22.2% popular votes

By 1844, the North was beginning to chafe at the increasing demands placed on them by their Southern brethren. In their eyes, the South had been unfairly castigating their region for years, forcing them to accept "compromises" on the tariff, federalism, and now westward expansion that seemed only to raise the South at the North's expense. When the Democrats announced the nomination of an unflinchingly pro-Texas ticket in 1844, as though the opinions of the North were not important enough to placate even with the vice presidency, the land north of the Mason-Dixon line revolted. In what would be termed as a preemptive strike against the "slave power", Northerners threw their support behind abolitionist John Parker Hale, who was elected without receiving a single vote in any of the slave states. Weeks later, South Carolina would declare itself out of the Union, launching the bloodiest war in the history of North America.