1856 Democratic National Convention

Background

The Democratic Party was wounded from its major losses in the 1854–1855 midterm elections. The party faced continued north–south sectional division over slavery-related issues, especially the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 and subsequent violence known as "Bleeding Kansas" from the civil strife in the Kansas Territory during its campaign for statehood. Two notable Democratic politicians, President Pierce and Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, were seen as being at the center of the controversies, which led many party members to look elsewhere for a new compromise candidate for president.

James Buchanan had been a candidate for president at the 1852 Democratic National Convention, and after the 1852 election he agreed to serve as Pierce's ambassador to Britain. Buchanan's service abroad conveniently placed him outside of the country while the debate over the Kansas–Nebraska Act roiled the nation. Powerful Senators like John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and James A. Bayard lined up behind Buchanan, presenting him as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and South. While Buchanan did not overtly seek the presidency, he also took no action to discourage his supporters.

Proceedings

Called to order at noon on Monday, June 2, by the National Committee chair Robert Milligan McLane, Samuel Medary was made the temporary president. The first day, the convention appointed committees on credentials, organization, and resolutions.

On the second day the organization committee (John L. Dawson, chair) report was adopted and John Elliot Ward of Georgia was made the convention's president. The committee on credentials (James A. Bayard Jr., chair) settled a dispute over the Missouri delegation, but needed more time for the thorny problem of competing delegations from New York.

June 4 saw the adoption of a platform (former National Committee chair Benjamin F. Hallett headed the committee on resolutions); the domestic portions were supported unanimously, the foreign policy planks by large margins. A separately reported plank on a railroad to the Pacific coast failed by a vote of 120 to 154.

On June 5, the New York problem was finally settled by seating half of each of the competing delegations. Nominations for President were then made.

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Image:JamesBuchanan_crop.jpg|Minister to Great Britain James Buchanan of Pennsylvania File:George Peter Alexander Healy - Franklin Pierce - Google Art Project.jpg|President Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire File:StephenArnoldDouglas.png|Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois File:Lewis Cass circa 1855.jpg| Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan

On the first ballot, Pierce received 122 votes, many of them from the South, to Buchanan's 135, with Douglas and Lewis Cass receiving the remaining votes. By the following morning fourteen ballots had been completed, but none of the three main candidates were able to get two-thirds of the vote. Pierce, whose support had been slowly declining as the ballots passed, directed his supporters to break for Douglas, withdrawing his name in a last-ditch effort to defeat Buchanan. Douglas, only 43 years of age, believed that he could be nominated in 1860 if he let the older Buchanan win this time, and received assurances from Buchanan's managers that this would be the case. After two more deadlocked ballots, Douglas's managers withdrew his name, leaving Buchanan as the clear winner. To soften the blow to Pierce, the convention issued a resolution of "unqualified approbation" in praise of his administration. This loss marked the first (and until 2024, only) time in U.S. history that an elected president who was an active candidate for reelection was not nominated for a second term.

1st Day of Presidential Balloting / 4th Day of Convention (Thursday, June 5, 1856) File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png|1st Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png|2nd Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png|3rd Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination4thBallot.png|4th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination5thBallot.png|5th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination6thBallot.png|6th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination7thBallot.png|7th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination8thBallot.png|8th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination9thBallot.png|9th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination10thBallot.png|10th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination11thBallot.png|11th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination12thBallot.png|12th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination13thBallot.png|13th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination14thBallot.png|14th Presidential Ballot 2nd Day of Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (Friday, June 6, 1856) File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination15thBallot.png|15th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination16thBallot.png|16th Presidential Ballot File:1856DemocraticPresidentialNomination17thBallot.png|17th Presidential Ballot

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Image:John C Breckinridge-04775-restored.jpg|Former Representative John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky Image:John A Quitman.jpg|Representative John A. Quitman of Mississippi Image:LinnBoyd.jpg|Former Representative Linn Boyd of Kentucky Image:JamesABayardJr.png|Senator James A. Bayard of Delaware Image:HerschelVespasianJohnson.png|Governor Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia Image:Hon. Aaron V. Brown, Tenn - NARA - 528326 (3x4a).jpg|Former Governor Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee Image:James Cochran Dobbin, attributed to John Cranch, c. 1845, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-9300792A.jpg|Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin of North Carolina Image:ThomasJeffersonRusk (cropped).png|Senator Thomas J. Rusk of Texas Image:BenjaminFitzpatrick.png|Senator Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama

Declined

Image:James Alexander Seddon 1.jpg|Former Representative James Seddon of Virginia Image:Hon. Trusten Polk, Mo - NARA - 528704.jpg|Gubernatorial Nominee Trusten Polk of Missouri

Eleven candidates were nominated for the vice presidency, but a number of them attempted to withdraw themselves from consideration, among them the eventual nominee, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. Breckinridge supported fellow Kentuckian Linn Boyd for the vice presidential nomination. However, following a draft effort led by the delegation from Vermont, Breckinridge was nominated on the second ballot. As Vermont's David Allen Smalley stated, "No Democrat has a right to refuse his services when his country calls."

File:1856DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallotBefore.png|1st Ballot (Before Shifts) File:1856DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination1stBallotAfter.png|1st Ballot (After Shifts) File:1856DemocraticVicePresidentialNomination2ndBallotAfter.png|2nd Ballot (After Shifts)

Aftermath

The Buchanan-Breckinridge ticket went on to win the 1856 presidential election, defeating John C. Frémont with William L. Dayton from the new Republican Party, and a strong third party showing from the American Party of the "Know Nothings" represented by former President Millard Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson.

References

• Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in Cincinnati, June 2–6, 1856

Works cited

References

1. Wallner (2007), pp. 266–70; Gara (1991), pp. 157–67, Holt (2010), loc. 1515–58.
2. (July 22, 2009). "When Has A President Been Denied His Party's Nomination?". [[NPR]].