Dan DiVietri

Election of 1844: Pro Henry Clay

In my campaign video for the election of 1844, I decided to focus on the strengths of Henry Clay as a distinguished statesman.  The “dark horse” Polk could not match Clay’s experience, and I sought to exploit this in my campaign ad.  Perhaps one of the most important men in United States politics, Clay had a repertoire of accomplishments exceeded by very few at his time and perhaps in our nation’s history.  Going into this election he had been a senator and member of Congress from Kentucky, a three-time speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of State, a leading war hawk later chosen to discuss peace terms after the War of 1812, and an important figure in both the Nullification Crisis and Missouri Compromise of 1820.[1]

Equally important as what I decided to highlight in my video is what I decided to leave out.  A key issue in the 1844 election was foreign policy.  The annexation of Texas and Oregon boundary issues were met with conflicting views throughout the country.  Initially, Clay took a stand against expansion though he later reneged and agreed to support annexation if it was on “just and fair” terms and did not lead the nation into war.  This change in stance probably resulted from his recognition that most voters were supporting expansion.  Instead of covering this issue that Clay was notoriously inconsistent on, I focused on Clay’s American System economic program, past accomplishments, and overwhelming support from the Whigs while highlighting his nicknames, “Henry of the West” and “The Western Star” to show people worried about the above-mentioned controversies that he was proven (though in an exclusive degree) in Western affairs.[2]

In search of support songs for Henry Clay, I was led to the National Clay Melodist and National Clay Minstrel.  The Whigs became famous for these catchy campaign jingles after the popular “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” song from the previous election.  I tried to recapture this spirit surrounding Clay.  I cut portions from a few campaign songs because I believed this method provided better fitting audio to correspond to both my imagery and a more compelling campaign video.  In a short video, I tried to make every second count and every word spoken mean somthing.  The first portion calls for people to “Join in the shout for the name we love best.”  It refers to Clay endearingly as “The Friend of the People, The Man of the West,” and comes from a song entitled “The Same Old Tune.”  I decided to transpose this over an image of Clay with the words “Who is Henry Clay?”  The image is one of the relatively few colored and photogenic images I could find of Clay.  Still, he looks older, experienced, and in my mind presidential.  The text is a play off the Whig campaign slogan, “Just Who is James K. Polk?” and introduces the first of three segments of my video.[3]

In this segment I focus on Clay’s electability and past achievements.  He had already had an illustrious career despite losing in two previous presidential elections.  First, I use a quote from the Baltimore Patriot from the Early American Newspapers database.  The quote summarizes the exigency, or “urgent need or demand” of the country, and it associates Clay with “personal freedom and independence.”  At this point the music shifts to “Clay and Frelinghuysen,” a more catchy, singsong tune that highlights the unity of the Whigs and the “music in these ‘Coons” (the raccoon was a symbol for Clay’s supporters).  Next, I chose a second image of Clay in which he looks young, intelligent, and distinguished.  Over this I highlight some of the many nicknames credited to Clay followed by a quote about his patriotism and ability to “save the country.”  I thought this was a great follow up to the past reference to exigency, showing that this election is serious and the people needed someone experienced with “talents, abilities, and political integrity.”  This quote is from a toast in Virginia (held at the Orange Court House on July 4^th and published in the Virginia Enquirer), showing that Clay did have some Southern support.[4]

Following this I move to an image photoshopped from an 1844 article in the Hudson River Chronicle.  The quote essentially speaks for itself as it claims Clay is a “perfect Hercules” without “an equal in the Union.”  The next image I chose to include in this section is of the USS Constitution during its victory over the HMS Java.  The ship scored some critical victories for the United States in a war that helped the nation form an identity.  I thought this image would conjure of positive feelings for people of the time and also relate Clay to his war hawk past in a more positive light (since at this time he did not feel the fight for Texas was right for America).  The quote I chose shows Clay’s indispensability to society as the main-mast and also refers to him as a “working man.”  I thought this tied together the image of the ship well, and just as importantly portrays Clay as a person that the people could not only count on, but actively seek out for the role of President.  The quote also comes from a toast, this found in the book Hail to the Candidate recommended by the library.  Finally, I used a quote from Thomas Jefferson to back Clay.  I thought it was important to show that a Democrat could support Clay and tie the presidential candidate back to the founders of our country, where his opposition was relatively unknown and inexperienced in comparison.[5]

In the middle segment the focus shifts to Clay’s support and what I try to portray as imminent victory.  I try to show the shift by reposing the question “Who is Henry Clay?” but this time over the Grand National Whig Banner under which he is termed as “The Nation’s Choice for President.”  The shift in segments is further shown by a shift in music to “We Are Met Again Like Jolly Boys” with the performer saying that it has come time for “Whigs to rally.”  The next image I chose is another excerpt from the Baltimore Patriot, this time referring to Clay as “The next Chief Magistrate” and saying, “Such a nation merits such a President.”  As the music shifts to chants of “Hurrah for Clay,” I shift the image to a political cartoon entitled “Polk in his Extremity.”  I located this image on the Library of Congress website, and it shows the ease of Clay’s rise to the Civil Crown compared to the difficulties of Polk who is being pushed/polked to no success.  Clay is saying “With ease I reach the goal, when the hearts of my countrymen are with me.”  I also include a quote showing the resounding support Clay is garnering from all areas of the country.[6]

In the final image of this segment I decided to continue with the theme of political cartoons.  This one I also found on the Library of Congress website called “The Two Bridges.”  Here the bridges are located over “The Salt River,” a common theme of the time.  Clay and Frelinghuysen are easily successful in their crossing to “The Presidential Chair.”  The music bellows, “Clear your throats for Old Kentucky” as the road to the presidency seems paved for Clay by “The People’s Bridge” compared to the “Loco Foco Bridge” travelled by Polk and Dallas/Benton.  Benton says, “I forgot the old bridge was rotten” as Andrew Jackson tries to support the dilapidated structure, an allusion to the shift in power that occurred with Whig victory in the election of 1840.  A quote exclaims that “The voice of the people in favor of Henry Clay in becoming louder everyday,” showing the increasing support for him while Polk carrying “Annexation Texas” and Benton carrying “Mint Drops” (an allusion to Democratic support for hard money) fall.[7]

The third and final segment switches the focus to the other candidate, James K. Polk.  The quote was a key Whig slogan, and the image I chose portray Polk in black and white as he appears to be snarling.  The music switches again, this time to “The First Polk Song” saying “You better keep your Polk away.”  The song continues, “Or we will cover him over with Clay.”  At this point the imagery transitions to the “Fight between the Kentucky Coon and the Tennessee Alligator” cartoon showing Clay pinning down Polk saying, “It is no use trying to Polk this nondescript animal against the People’s Coon.”  Jackson is notably displayed as a giraffe saying, “I cannot overlook this disaster to our cause.”  Daniel Webster, another popular Whig, is portrayed as a bear saying “I’ll put my foot on him [Polk] when you are done, and that will sink him out of sight.”[8]

I again transition to a political cartoon.  As the music shifts back to “Clay and Frelinghuysen” saying, “The nation’s rising,” I pan to the “Balloon Ascension to the Presidential Chair.”  Here I show the rising balloon of Clay and Frelinghuysen by shifting the view up to create the desired effect.  The Whigs again rise with ease when compared to Polk whose balloon has no air and is pushed to Jackson with minimal success.  Polk says, “I think my friends have placed me at a very ridiculous position!  They set me up here only to “poke” fun at me,” showing his hopelessness.  I end with a quote broken up first over black and then over “A Peep at the Future,” another political cartoon.  The first portion shows that even honest democrats cannot be expected to vote for Polk (over black because it is a serious issue), while the second half presents Clay as “the noble alternative.”  The image represents a Whig hopeful’s vision with Clay and Frelinghuysen occupying the White House with minstrels who had chanted their praises outside.  Polk is represented as a monkey and says, “Well this is better than having to carry the Fox!” an allusion to Van Buren.  I thought putting Clay in the White House, while also lauding his ability to be an “upright, incorruptible statesman” was a good way to conclude the ad.[9]

Difficulties naturally arise when designing a political campaign ad for a losing candidate, especially when we realize in retrospect this candidate’s shirking of the main issue and loosely aligned party likely cost him the election.  However, at the election’s beginning Henry Clay was better known, much more experienced, and better supported by his party than James K. Polk.  I tried to capture these critical advantages because that is what the Whigs did at the time.  I applied contemporary Whig jingles that had been met with great success for Harrison in the election of 1840 to show the support Clay had from the nation.  I used cartoons from the time displaying Clay as victorious over Polk with my candidate always pictured above his competitor.  Finally, I highlighted Clay’s achievements as a qualified, patriotic, and well-supported statesman of America, and I tried to make it appear that America needed him at this time rather than the dark horse Polk. Looking back, this does not appear to be true as the nation fared very well under the Polk administration, but to a Clay campaign manager at the time this idea likely seemed impossible.