Recently Politico began a stream of thought that the
Republicans could be the Whigs because Trump is like Zachary Taylor. Sadly, it is an article that understands
little of history and in fact are just making stuff up.
The Whig Party did dissolve not long after winning the
Presidency, but it was not Zachary Taylor’s fault. In fact, the Politico article skims past the
actual reasons. Taylor was close to the
perfect Whig candidate, a candidate who stood for next to nothing. The problem with the Whig party was that it
was always a party that simply opposed Andrew Jackson and his principles. They were not united by any real set of
beliefs. Thus, the quotes calling the nomination
of Taylor a betrayal of Whig principles are laughable because there were no
Whig principles. Even the article notes
it was a “strained” coalition of Northern and Southerners who were against
Jackson. The quotes from abolitionists
like Greeley are not universal for the Whigs because they had a large group of
Southerners. Taylor was chosen because
he could stop the party from splitting by not having a real position on
slavery. This was always the Whig
way. Clay stands as the perfect
example. He owned slaves, but was not
really for slavery, but not really an abolitionist either. Clay is the picture of the Whig Party, and it
slowly became an impossible place to be.
That is hardly Taylor’s fault.
It is also not exactly fair to claim Taylor an
outsider. Yes, he had never held office,
but he was a general, and that had always been a path to the Presidency. Washington, Jackson, and Harrison had all be
war heroes. And every one of them had
been opposed by people for not having the right background to be
President. Yet, we can see from the way
James K. Polk managed that war that he very much understood the war hero who
comes out of the Mexican American war will be a candidate for President. And in fact, both major generals, Scott and
Taylor, stood for nomination. Being a
general during war was at this time in American history, an acceptable path to
the Presidency.
In fact, the election of Taylor and his resulting Presidency
(and that of Fillmore who followed after Taylor’s death) was probably the high
point of the Whig movement. It is during
this time that the Whig party controls congress as well as the Presidency. It is during this time that Clay pushes
through the Compromise of 1850, with the help of Stephen Douglas. This adds California to the rolls as a free
state. No minor feat. It kept America together during that struggle,
and that is exactly what the Whig platform had always been. Together.
This led to them ignoring and compromising over and over. Their greatest member, Henry Clay, is known
as the Great Compromiser. Their death
came when the public no longer wanted compromise, but a more permanent solution. The Whigs failed to see this and died.
In the end the Whig Party died not because of the lack of
success that Taylor had as President. In
fact, he did not even make it out of his first term before dying. Taylor had little impact on the Whig Party’s
ultimate doom. The election of Taylor
does show the seeds of the ultimate doom of the Whig’s but not because of
Taylor, but because of the presence and success on the ballot of Martin Van
Buren. Van Buren the former Democrat
President ran as a Free Soil candidate and garnered lots of votes. Not enough to win anything, but enough that
he changed the election. And it was
enough that people should have seen that this issue was too important to
ignore. But both parties did just
that. They ignored it. Thus, by 1852 the party has been badly
wounded by a refusal to take sides on the slavery issue as evidenced by the
Compromise of 1850. And it is at that
convention, when Southerners prevent Millard Fillmore from running for another
term, and get General Winfield Scott as the nominee, that the first meetings of
what would become the Republican Party emerge.
Scott is a beautiful example of the Whig Party. Scott himself was anti-slavery, but ran on
the platform that accepted the Fugitive Slave Law. His personal stance killed him in the South,
and the party’s stance killed him in the North.
He was crushed in the election. And
by 1856, the Republicans have fielded a candidate of their own. And by1858 the Republican Party dominated the
North. Republicans had a clear message and
stance. “Free soil, free silver, and
free men”. This addressed the issue of
the day decisively. Southern Whigs
turned to the Know Nothing Party, and even the Democrat Party as they feared
the rise of anti-slavery parties, like the Republican and Free Soil parties, in
the north. Although one can argue the
1860 Constitution Union Party was what was left of the Whig Party. Again, its main platform. Together.
Unity. Avoid the issues.
If there is a lesson for the Republican Party it is that
taking a stand is important as is keeping up with what is important to the
people. I do not believe Trump will be
the death of the Republican Party.
Without a third party to siphon off voters, there will be no death for
the GOP. If the Libertarians gain a
massive increase, then maybe, it is the beginning of the end. But the Libertarians do not run candidates
well for other offices.
Sadly, this comparing Trump to Taylor is very unfair to
Taylor, misses the real message of the Whigs, and is just bad history. I know people want to think this is the end,
but it is probably not. And that message
is the one that really ought to scare us.