Martin Van Buren as president. Founder of the first statewide political machine and the national Democratic Party, this son of a tavern keeper ascended to the nation’s highest office before the first national economic crisis cost him re-election.
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In 1848, Van Buren agreed to run as a Free Soil candidate for president, committed to the Wilmot Proviso. Here he pushes aside Lewis Cass and Zachary Taylor, his opponents.
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John Tyler as president. The first to ascend to the office, Tyler found himself bitterly at odds with the Whig Party. He would doggedly pursue the annexation of the Republic of Texas, leaving a legacy of challenge and opportunity for his successors.
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Congressman Abraham Lincoln, Whig of Illinois. Lincoln opposed the war in Mexico and the extension of slavery into the new territory. His bill to emancipate the slaves in Washington went nowhere.
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Henry Clay addresses the Senate on his proposals to diffuse a crisis that had brought America to the brink of civil war. Presiding in his role as vice president is Millard Fillmore, who will soon inherit the presidency and play the pivotal role in passing the Compromise of 1850.
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Millard Fillmore, desperately poor and poorly educated, committed himself to overcoming his circumstances.
In the first days of the Civil War, Fillmore vigorously supported President Lincoln, raising a home guard unit and serving as its commander.
Franklin Pierce’s career seemed limitless when his wife convinced him to leave the public stage. After service as a general in Mexico, Pierce returned to his quiet retirement. In 1852, a divided Democratic Party chose him as its nominee, sending him to the presidency.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act, written by Senator Stephen Douglas and championed by President Pierce, opened vast new territory to the possibility of slavery and re-opened the fires that had been held in check since the Compromise of 1850. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
James Buchanan, perhaps the most experienced man to serve as president, surrounded himself with a similarly credentialed cabinet. When faced with an unprecedented crisis, Buchanan found himself surrounded by secessionists and beset by others who wanted him to take a more aggressive approach.
Abraham Lincoln, the surprise nominee of a new political party, had prevailed despite the efforts of five former presidents to stop him.
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As the nation slid toward civil war, many believed the ex-presidents should work together to arrange a settlement. This Vanity Fair cartoon mocks the idea, charging that the presidents who caused the crisis could do little to solve it. Ultimately, Van Buren would thwart Pierce’s attempts to convene a meeting. MAKING OF AMERICA, THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
To win re-election in 1864, a feat that had eluded his predecessors for twenty-two years, Lincoln would need to defeat his former commanding general, George McClellan. Lincoln’s triumph, over the opposition of three former presidents, effectively sealed the fate of the Confederacy.
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