WI: Zachary Taylor ran as a Democrat?

What if Zachary Taylor ran as a Democrat? He himself told the Whigs he was a Jeffersonian Democrat. I presume he would win the 1848 election in a landslide. Would Taylor still die? If so, who would be his VP? Buchanan? Cass? How would his presidency go? If he lived, what would happen? What if?
 

Stolengood

Banned
The Whigs are toast an election early, I presume, but Taylor's going to have a lot of pushback from his own party over his stance on slavery's expansion...
 

Stolengood

Banned
Were the factors that led to the Whig collapse strong enough in 1849/1850?
The only thing that kept them from collapsing, I think, was Taylor; they would've lost massively had he been a Democrat. That just exacerbates the existing tensions tearing the party apart, and boom, there they go, up in a bunch of splinter movements.
 
The only thing that kept them from collapsing, I think, was Taylor; they would've lost massively had he been a Democrat. That just exacerbates the existing tensions tearing the party apart, and boom, there they go, up in a bunch of splinter movements.

Will these splinter movements be able to defeat an unpopular Democrat in 1852? Do you think something like the OTL Republicans will gain precedence or another group, like OTL Know-Nothings?
 
I've got him doing so in my "Daniel Webster as Harrison's VP" TL that is close enough to ready to start that I might do it soon. A 7-way:)eek:)election free-for-all comes in 1852, but that's from thigns set in motion earlier.

Essentially, if Taylor chooses the Democrats, in my view, it's likely because the Whigs' Southern faction feels left out by some Webster snobs, as the party is pushed too far toward teh Free Soil camp. Since taylor did have some things in common with the Democrats he'd have probably willingly bolted, but you'd need an unpopular Democratic president in 1844, which could happen if Popular Sovereignty becomes a huge enough issue.

The Whigs were a loose band of people held together by men such as Henry Clay. They might run Clay just because they don't have anyone else, or Scott, but either way, if the Democrats have won a war, they'd still be the party in power, just the President would be able to be "thrown under the stagecoach" (no buses yet:)) and blamed for all the problems. While Taylor gets credit for all the success. So, I think Taylor wins no matter who runs for the Whigs.

If a Whig is PresidentI doubt the Mexican-American War happens, though I suppose it's possible.

(Maybe I'll start it soon - I usually dont do really detailed TLs, this will be about like "Created Equal," if I do.)
 
I am curious as to how that is going to work as Webster is totally against Harrison. And the Sec of State position he got in OTL was only a nod from clay who refused it.

He was offered it in 1839 and turned it down. Why he turned it down i don't know, but he could figure he'd have some chance to influence the administration s VP. Also, the thought that Tyler might be chosen isntead could sway him.
 
What if Zachary Taylor ran as a Democrat? He himself told the Whigs he was a Jeffersonian Democrat. I presume he would win the 1848 election in a landslide. Would Taylor still die? If so, who would be his VP? Buchanan? Cass? How would his presidency go? If he lived, what would happen? What if?

He said he considered himself a Jeffersonian but so did such Whigs as Harrison in 1840. (It is important to remember that the claim of the Jackson/Van Buren party to be the heirs of Jefferson was vigorously rejected by the Whigs, who maintained that on the contrary it was the Democrats who were acting like "Federalists" by centralizing authority in the president. To proclaim oneself a "Jeffersonian Republican" or "Jeffersonian Democrat" was *not* necessarily to indicate sympathy with the contemporary Democratic Party.) He at first viewed himself as a nonpartisan figure who would only accept nomination from "the people", but "By early August [1847] Taylor was willing to admit openly that his sympathies lay with the Whigs, whom he considered closer to Jefferson's ideals than the Democrats." http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Rash/misc/images/fiddlesticks.jpg

Nevertheless, Taylor would probably have accepted the Democratic nomination if he felt he could accept it and still not be force to govern as a "mere party president." Given his open attacks on the Polk administration, however, I doubt very much that he could get it. (One should also remember that the Whigs had never won without a military hero heading the ticket; they were more desperate to have one than the Democrats were.) It is true that Simon Cameron hoped Taylor would win, but Cameron disliked Polk and the Walker Tariff, and though nominally a Democrat, his attitude toward that party was, to say the least, opportunist. Jefferson Davis also hoped for Taylor to run as an Independent, and thought that southern Democrats would vote for him if he did, but of course Davis was prejudiced by his family ties with Taylor...
 
Top