AHC: Stephan Douglas wins 1860 elections

Anaxagoras

Banned
The funny thing about Breckinridge as the standard-bearer for the slave-holding South is that he was personally quite moderate on the slavery question. The church to which he belonged was officially and publicly anti-slavery, many members of his immediate family were abolitionists, and he very likely owned no slaves of his own in 1860 (historians aren't quite sure). He had even been a subscriber to Frederick Douglass's newspaper at one point. An opponent in a prewar congressional election had campaigned on the theme that Breckinridge was a closet abolitionist.
 
Challenge: Have Stephan Douglas win the 1860 Presidential Elections.

PoD 1: John Breckinridge refuses to be the "Southern Democrat" candidate. The rump convention nominates ex-president Franklin Pierce and Jefferson Davis.

PoD 2: The Republican Party nominates William Seward and Cassius Clay.

PoD 3: "Constitutional Union" candidate John Bell suffers a heart attack, and withdraws from the election in September. He is replaced by VP nominee Edward Everett, with John Crittenden of Kentucky as VP.

Effects:

Pierce was at this time a confirmed alcoholic. While this was not generally known, it could not be concealed in the heat of the campaign. Douglas, who broke precedent by campaigning in person, knew of Pierce's condition and demanded that he appear in publlc. When Pierce finally did appear, he was clearly drunk and barely able to speak. The embarrassment practically ruined Pierce's campaign, even in the Deep South. Douglas men ridiculed Pierce as "President Bottle".

Pierce lost votes among temperance men, offended by his drinklng, and among "wets" for not being able to hold his liquor.

Pierce's candidacy had the most effect in Pennsylvania, where the Democratic Party apparatus was controlled by President Buchanan, who was hostile to Douglas. He had hoped to support his VP Breckinridge, but Breckinridge declined. Buchanan disliked Pierce as much as Douglas, and reluctantly fell in line behind him with his followers. Douglas thus gained nearly all Pennsylvania Democrat votes.

Meanwhile, the Seward-Clay ticket encountered difficulties in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, and Oregon. Seward was considered by many as too radical on the slavery issue - and Clay was an outright abolitionist. Some of these votes moved to Everett, and some to Douglas.

The change on the Constitution Union ticket cost it votes in the Deep South, where Everett's northern origin was a problem. The problem was amplified when Everett, to placate northern critics, issued a statement rejecting the Dred Scott decision and the Lecompton Constitution.

The final result was (popular votes, %, electoral votes):

__________________ Edward ___________ Frankiln __________ Stephen A __________ William
__________________ Everett __________ Pierce ____________ Douglas ____________ Seward
__________________ (Const U, MA) ____ (Democrat, NH) ____ (Democrat, IL) _____ (Republican, NY)

ALABAMA ________ 18,835 _ 20.9 __ 0 _ 35,147 _ 39.0 __ 0 __ 36,138 _ 40.1 __ 9 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
ARKANSAS _______ 14,675 _ 27.1 __ 0 _ 20,631 _ 38.1 __ 4 __ 18,899 _ 34.9 __ 0 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
CALIFORNIA _____ 21,086 _ 17.6 __ 0 _ 28,036 _ 23.4 __ 0 __ 43,971 _ 36.7 __ 4 __ 26,718 _ 22.3 __ 0
CONNECTICUT _____ 8,978 _ 12.0 __ 0 __ 6,883 __ 9.2 __ 0 __ 22,894 _ 30.6 __ 0 __ 35,987 _ 48.1 __ 6
DELAWARE ________ 3,077 _ 19.1 __ 0 __ 4,915 _ 30.5 __ 0 ___ 6,703 _ 41.6 __ 3 ___ 1,402 __ 8.7 __ 0
FLORIDA _________ 3,471 _ 26.1 __ 0 __ 6,278 _ 47.2 __ 3 ___ 3,551 _ 26.7 __ 0 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
GEORGIA ________ 32,335 _ 30.3 __ 0 _ 36,177 _ 33.9 __ 0 __ 38,311 _ 35.9 _ 10 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
ILLINOIS _______ 22,076 __ 6.5 __ 0 __ 2,377 __ 0.7 __ 0 _ 177,287 _ 52.2 _ 11 _ 138,229 _ 40.7 __ 0
INDIANA ________ 19,050 __ 7.0 __ 0 __ 4,082 __ 1.5 __ 0 _ 137,160 _ 50.4 _ 13 _ 111,850 _ 41.1 __ 0
IOWA ____________ 8,239 __ 6.4 __ 0 __ 1,029 __ 0.8 __ 0 __ 62,052 _ 48.2 __ 4 __ 57,417 _ 44.6 __ 0
KENTUCKY _______ 58,778 _ 40.2 _ 12 _ 31,144 _ 21.3 __ 0 __ 54,831 _ 37.5 __ 0 ___ 1,315 __ 0.9 __ 0
LOUISIANA ______ 15,153 _ 30.0 __ 0 _ 15,102 _ 29.9 __ 0 __ 20,254 _ 40.1 __ 6 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
MAINE ___________ 7,064 __ 7.0 __ 0 __ 3,330 __ 3.3 __ 0 __ 37,743 _ 37.4 __ 0 __ 52,679 _ 52.2 __ 8
MARYLAND _______ 32,468 _ 35.1 __ 8 _ 28,583 _ 30.9 __ 0 __ 30,988 _ 33.5 __ 0 _____ 462 __ 0.5 __ 0
MASSACHUSETTS __ 39,335 _ 23.2 __ 0 __ 1,017 __ 0.6 __ 0 __ 39,335 _ 23.2 __ 0 __ 89,521 _ 52.8 _ 13
MICHIGAN ________ 8,202 __ 5.3 __ 0 ____ 309 __ 0.2 __ 0 __ 73,200 _ 47.3 __ 6 __ 73,045 _ 47.2 __ 0
MINNESOTA _______ 1,774 __ 5.1 __ 0 ____ 417 __ 1.2 __ 0 __ 14,019 _ 40.3 __ 0 __ 18,576 _ 53.4 __ 4
MISSISSIPPI ____ 18,241 _ 26.4 __ 0 _ 30,401 _ 44.0 __ 7 __ 20,590 _ 29.8 __ 0 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
MISSOURI _______ 50,165 _ 30.3 __ 0 _ 23,013 _ 13.9 __ 0 __ 83,609 _ 50.5 __ 9 ___ 8,774 __ 5.3 __ 0
NEW HAMPSHIRE ___ 3,692 __ 5.6 __ 0 __ 1,450 __ 2.2 __ 0 __ 29,872 _ 45.3 __ 0 __ 30,927 _ 46.9 __ 5
NEW JERSEY __________ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 ______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 __ 68,971 _ 56.9 __ 1 __ 52,243 _ 43.1 __ 6
NEW YORK ____________ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 ______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 _ 312,597 _ 46.3 __ 0 _ 362,558 _ 53.7 _ 35
NTH CAROLINA ___ 33,559 _ 34.7 __ 0 _ 34,332 _ 35.5 _ 10 __ 28,820 _ 29.8 __ 0 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
OHIO ___________ 34,532 __ 7.8 __ 0 __ 7,083 __ 1.6 __ 0 _ 191,702 _ 43.3 __ 0 _ 209,411 _ 47.3 _ 23
OREGON ____________ 959 __ 6.5 __ 0 __ 3,600 _ 24.4 __ 0 ___ 6,345 _ 43.0 __ 3 ___ 3,851 _ 26.1 __ 0
PENNSYLVANIA ___ 41,450 __ 8.7 __ 0 _ 50,026 _ 10.5 __ 0 _ 192,959 _ 40.5 _ 27 _ 192,006 _ 40.3 __ 0
RHODE ISLAND ________ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 ______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0 ___ 8,698 _ 43.6 __ 0 __ 11,252 _ 56.4 __ 4
STH CAROLINA ________ - ____ - __ - ______ - ____ - __ 8 _______ - ____ - __ - _______ - ____ - __ -
TENNESSEE ______ 47,776 _ 32.7 __ 0 _ 43,247 _ 29.6 __ 0 __ 55,081 _ 37.7 _ 12 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
TEXAS ___________ 9,113 _ 14.5 __ 0 _ 31,741 _ 50.5 __ 4 __ 21,999 _ 35.0 __ 0 _______ 0 __ 0.0 __ 0
VERMONT _________ 4,196 __ 9.4 __ 0 ____ 223 __ 0.5 __ 0 ___ 6,428 _ 14.4 __ 0 __ 33,795 _ 75.7 __ 5
VIRGINIA _______ 57,744 _ 34.6 __ 0 _ 49,232 _ 29.5 __ 0 __ 59,580 _ 35.7 _ 15 _____ 166 __ 0.1 __ 0
WISCONSIN _______ 7,761 __ 5.1 __ 0 ____ 913 __ 0.6 __ 0 __ 64,980 _ 42.7 __ 0 __ 78,524 _ 51.6 __ 5

Total _________ 623,784 _ 13.3 _ 20_ 500,718 _ 10.7 _ 36 1,969,567 _ 42.0_ 133 1,590,708 _ 34.0_ 114



Douglas won a clear plurality of the popular and electoral vote. He had said that if no one got a majority, he would not accept election by the House of Representatives, but he was thinking of a second-place finish then. The alternatives were Seward and Pierce - so he accepted.
 
The funny thing about Breckinridge as the standard-bearer for the slave-holding South is that he was personally quite moderate on the slavery question.

And yet he accepted the breakaway Democrat nomination, which can't have had any intention except to split the party, elect a Republican, and trigger secession.

Furthermore, he went south and became a Confederate general.

Also the answer to a trivia question: Has anyone ever tried to kill a former Vice President? Answer: pretty much all of the Army of the Cumberland at one time or another.
 
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