Hail, Columbia! (Master Thread)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1844
 

Louis-Joseph Papineau [Liberal-Quebec]—53 Electors, 46.7% popular votes
Theodore Frelinghuysen [Continental-New Jersey]—23 Electors, 26.7% popular votes
Juan Nepomuceno Almonte [Whig-Mexico]—10 Electors, 26.7% popular votes

Such was Louis Papineau's popularity in the months leading up to the Election of 1844 that the Whig and Continental Parties hardly bothered to oppose him. Indeed, the result of both the popular and electoral votes that year was a veritable landslide for the anti-slavery Liberal Party, seeing Papineau sweep 23 provinces for a total of 53 votes in the Electoral Council. In the popular vote, Papineau fell just short of a majority, winning 47% to 27% for his nearest rival, former New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelighuysen. The Whigs, meanwhile, managed to stave off an all-out route in the popular vote - tying Frelinghuysen with 26.7% - but were crushed in the Electoral Council, where they carried just four provinces for a total of ten electors.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1848
 

Thomas Hart Benton [Liberal-Lafayette]—41.9% General, 53.3% Runoff
Franklin H. Elmore [Whig-South Carolina]—41.9% General, 46.7% Runoff
Nathaniel Tallmadge [Continental-New York]—16.1% General

Though he found success both at home and abroad, brokering the acquisition of Cuba in 1847 and successfully passing long-sought reforms in education and popular suffrage, Louis-Joseph Papineau would decline to stand for reelection in 1848, instead declaring his intention to retire at the conclusion of his second term. In his stead, the Liberals - whose success in the last two presidential elections had secured their place as the Commonwealth's dominant political force - nominated Vice President Thomas Hart Benton, who promised to continue Papineau's policies. To oppose Benton, the Whigs nominated South Carolina Senator Franklin Elmore, while the struggling Continentals nominated Nathaniel Tallmadge of New York.

With the passage of the Fair Representation Act of 1845, the Electoral Council was done away with, replaced by a nationwide popular vote for the presidency. Under the new system, all (male) citizens aged 20 and over would be eligible to vote for president; if no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election would be held between the top two vote getters to determine the winner. In the general election, Benton and Elmore each received 42% of the vote, while Tallmadge took just 16%; in the runoff, Benton narrowly edged out the expansionist Elmore, winning by a margin of 6%.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1852
 

Juan Álvarez [Whig-Mexico]—57.1% votes
Thomas Hart Benton [Liberal-Lafayette]—42.9% votes

For the first three years of his Administration, President Thomas Hart Benton benefitted from the prosperous economy and residual popularity of his predecessor, Louis-Joseph Papineau, who had cemented the Liberal Party as the dominant party of government. These conditions led many to expect a fourth Liberal landslide in the 1852 election; but no sooner had Benton been nominated for a second term did the economy begin to falter. The Panic of 1852 had its roots in the low land prices of the Clay and Papineau years, which had depleted the Treasury and given rise to a "land boom" that came crashing down as Benton began his reelection campaign. Led by the popular and respected Juan Alvarez, the Whigs won a resounding victory in the general election, carrying 21 provinces and 57% of the popular vote. Alvarez thus became the first Whig to occupy the Maison Blanchet in 24 years and the first Spanish-speaking president since Miguel Hidalgo.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1856
 

Juan Álvarez [Official Whig-Mexico]—44.4% General, 74.0% Runoff
Robert E. Lee [True Whig-Virginia]—25.9% General, 26.0% Runoff
François-Xavier Garneau [Canadien-Quebec]—18.5% General
James Buchanan [Commonwealth Liberal-Pennsylvania]—11.1% General

Not since the days of Henry Clay had so experienced a statesman occupied the presidency of the North American Commonwealth, and in the four years that followed his overwhelming victory in the 1852 election, Juan Álvarez would prove to be one of the most competent chief executives the Continental republic had ever seen. Though his party held but a tenuous grasp on the Continental Congress, Álvarez managed to successfully reform the National Bank, establish trade with Japan and the European colonies in Asia and Africa, and extend limited opportunities for citizenship to the Indian tribes of the West. For all this, Álvarez was considered the heavy favorite to win reelection in 1856, but a schism within the Whig Party led "True Whigs" - who objected to the president's moderate policies - to nominate their own candidate, General Robert E. Lee of Virginia. In the general election, Álvarez received 44% of the vote to Lee's 26%, while James Buchanan of the Liberals finished last with just over a tenth of the vote; the ensuing runoff election saw Alvarez crush Lee by a margin of 48 percent, carrying every province outside the Southeast but Tennessee and Lee's Virginia.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1860
 

Joseph Albert Wright [Whig-Ohio]—42.9% General, 53.8% Runoff
Benito Juárez [Commonwealth Liberal-Mexico]—35.7% General, 46.2% Runoff
Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier [Canadien-Quebec]—21.4% General

Though reform efforts in the Spanish provinces and a cultural revival within the francophone community would play supporting roles in the Election of 1860, it was the legacy of Juan Álvarez that would take center stage in the presidential campaign. Nominated by the Whigs to succeed the retiring president, Ohio Governor Joseph Wright would go on to win a comfortable victory over Benito Juárez in the final round, claiming 54% of the popular vote 23 of the 42 provinces. Wright thus became the first Whig to win his party a third consecutive term in la Maison Blanchet and the first president from the Old Northwest. As thanks for his efforts to help the Whigs carry Quebec, Louis Bouthillier was awarded the vice presidency, assuring the continued relevance of the Canadiens over the next four years.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1864
 

Joseph Albert Wright [Whig-Ohio]—48.4% General, 51.7% Runoff
Charles F. Adams [Commonwealth Liberal-Massachusetts]—32.3% General, 48.3% Runoff
Augustin-Norbert Morin [Canadien-Quebec]—19.4% General

The Election of 1864 saw incumbent President Joseph A. Wright narrowly defeat Massachusetts Senator Charles Francis Adams in one of the closest elections on record. Reasonably popular and well-liked even by the Liberals who opposed his Administration, Wright has considered the heavy favorite heading into the election, and some even predicted that he would win a majority in the first round; however, Adams' support for temperance and civil service reform won him respect from social reformers, including most Canadiens, whose support allowed the Liberals to sweep the Northeast and finish strong in Mexico and the other Spanish provinces. Ultimately, however, Wright's strength in the West proved too great to overcome, handing the president a four-point victory over his opponent. Canadien support for Adams, meanwhile, would cost the party the vice presidency, with Wright instead offering the post to reform Congressman Samuel Tilden of New York.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1868
 

Joseph Albert Wright [Whig-Ohio]—57.1% votes
Benito Juárez [Commonwealth Liberal-Mexico]—42.9% votes

As it had in 1824, the advent of war with Britain did wonders for the popularity of the Whig Party and its chosen leader, President Joseph Wright, whose narrow victory in the Election of 1864 had led many to predict the demise of the Party of Blanchet. Instead, the wartime president succeeded where even the great Miguel Hidalgo had failed: seeking and winning a third term as President of the Commonwealth of North America. Despite hearty opposition from Liberal candidate Benito Juarez, Wright won a resounding victory on the first ballot, trouncing Juarez by a much wider margin than his victory over Adams four years earlier and restoring the Whigs to the majority in Congress.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1872
 

Theodore Roosevelt [Commonwealth Liberal-New York]—53.6% votes
Samuel Jones Tilden [Whig-New York]—46.4% votes

The twenty years from 1853 to 1873 would later be termed the "Era of Whig Government," seeing three successive Whig Administrations occupy La Maison Blanchet. The last of these presidents - Samuel J. Tilden, who took office upon the death of Joseph Wright in 1869 - would have the dubious honor of being the only chief executive never to win a presidential election when he was defeated by Theodore Roosevelt in the 1872 election. A popular war hero who had distinguished himself fighting the British in Ireland, Roosevelt became the first Liberal president in 20 years, defeating Tilden in a modest landslide with nearly 54% of the vote. Tilden, meanwhile, would retire from politics for good, returning to the practice of law that would sustain him until his death in 1886.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1876
 

Theodore Roosevelt [Commonwealth Liberal-New York]—43.8% General, 56.7% Runoff
John Charles Frémont [Democratic-Sacramento]—34.4% General, 43.3% Runoff
Thomas Francis Bayard [Whig-Delaware]—21.9% General

While hard-pressed by his challenger, Frémont, President Theodore Roosevelt was able to capture a second term in office, and in the second round even increase his majority to a full-fledged margin of thirteen percent. While the former made strong inroads in traditional Liberal provinces such as Quebec, which due to being heavily opposed to the temperance movement and other measures of reform being perceived as too anti-Catholic, and also won the votes of immigrant groups such as Germans, Italians or Irishmen by a strong margin; the Liberal strongholds in the Southwest and Northeast, coupled with low voter turnout in the Whig heartland of the Southeast, propelled the incumbent President to a second term in office. Vice President Iglesias was subsequently also reconfirmed by the Liberal-controlled congress.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1880
 

José María Iglesias [Commonwealth Liberal-Mexico]—34.5% General, 53.8% Runoff
Georg Friedrich Strauss [Democratic-Winnebago]—37.9% General, 46.2% Runoff
Lucius Robinson [Whig-New York]—27.6% General

Bolstered by residual affection for the late Theodore Roosevelt, whose sudden death in 1878 had deeply affected the country, Jose Maria Iglesias narrowly defeated Georg Friedrich Strauss in the Election of 1880, becoming the first "accidental president" to win election in his own right. Only the second vice president to ascend to the presidency upon the death of his successor, Iglesias was initially favored to win but received a strong challenge from the fledgling Democratic Party. In the first round of balloting, Strauss unexpectedly outpolled both Iglesias and Whig nominee Lucius Robinson, winning 38% of the vote. His strong performance allowed the Democrats to make strong gains in the concurrent Congressional elections, costing the Liberals their majority and handing control of the legislature to a coalition of Whigs, Democrats, and members of Henry George's Independent Labor Party.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1884
 

Gerald Joyce Campbell [Whig-Kansas]—40.6% General, 62.1% Runoff
José María Iglesias [Commonwealth Liberal-Mexico]—34.4% General, 37.9% Runoff
Hector-Louis Langevin [Democratic-Quebec]—25.0% General

After the breathtakingly close contest of 1880, many had expected the Election of 1884 to be a harrowing ordeal for the Liberals, yet the magnitude of the "Centennial Massacre" exceeded even the wildest hopes of the opposition. Regarded initially as the uninspired choice of a desperate party, the Whig's Gerald Joyce Campbell instead went on to win by the largest margin in thirty years, trouncing incumbent President Iglesias with 62% of the vote to Iglesias' 38%. Seldom had any man received so enormous a mandate - how Campbell would make use of it remained to be seen.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1888
 

Gerald Joyce Campbell [Whig-Kansas]—34.6% General, 61.3% Runoff
Franz Heinrich Schultz [Democratic-Dakota]—38.5% General, 38.7% Runoff
James Garfield [Commonwealth Liberal-Erie]—26.9% General

Four years after his overwhelming victory in the election of 1884 catapulted the Whigs back into La Maison Blanchet after more than a decade in the opposition, President Gerald Joyce Campbell had cemented his reputation as the "Alvarez of the Plains," having employed his incomparable skill as a negotiator and his compass-like political instincts to successfully implement his agenda. Even so, both Democrats and Liberals hoped to topple the "Great Conciliator" as the election of 1888 approached; instead, the ensuing campaign would reveal just how limited the appeal of those parties had become. Despite loosing the first round to radical Democrat Franz Schutlz, Campbell won an overwhelming landslide in the second round, nearly equalling his result from four years earlier; Schultz, meanwhile, failed to attract significant support from the Liberals, his share of the vote increasing only a fifth of a point from the general election to the runoff. Thus, Campbell was returned for a second term in office, a little more battered for the wear but with his reputation as a brilliant political mind secure.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As we pass the 100th anniversary of the Commonwealth Charter (signed in 1784), here are some presidential statistics to contemplate as we enter the second century of this series:

• The average presidential term is 6.25 years.
• The longest-serving President was Joseph A Wright (Whig-Ohio), who held the office for eight years, two months, and seven days.
• The shortest-serving President was Wright's successor, Samuel J. Tilden, who assumed office upon Wright's death and served for three years, nine months, and twenty one days.
• Of the first sixteen presidents, ten were English speakers, three were Spanish speakers, and three were French speakers.
• While several presidents have run for a third term, only Joseph A. Wright ever successfully won reelection after two previous terms in La Maison. Those presidents who sought third terms unsuccessfully are Miguel Hidalgo (1812), Henry Clay (1840), and Jose Maria Iglesias (1884).
• The Whigs hold the record for winning the most consecutive elections (five, in 1852, 1856, 1860, 1864, and 1868).
• New York has provided more presidents (four) than any other province. Mexico and Quebec tie for second place, having each supplied three presidents.
• John Jay, Thomas Hart Benton, and Samuel Tilden are the only presidents to have been denied a second term; Tilden remains the only president to never be elected to the office.

[Mr. Smith]

Who was the youngest? The oldest?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Who was the youngest? The oldest?

Miguel Hidalgo (35 on the day of his inauguration) and Benjamin Franklin (78).

[Zuza]

Who was the youngest? The oldest?

Miguel Hidalgo (35 on the day of his inauguration) and Benjamin Franklin (78).

Van Buren was 30 on the day of his inauguration in 1813.

[Cranberry]

Van Buren would have also been a native Dutch speaker, I believe.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Van Buren would have also been a native Dutch speaker, I believe.

I forgot about that! Perhaps the German-Americans who rallied behind Fremont adopted the "Democratic Party" title in tribute to Van Buren (a member of the earlier Democrats), the only president to speak a germanic language.

[Mr. Smith]

Van Buren would have also been a native Dutch speaker, I believe.

I forgot about that! Perhaps the German-Americans who rallied behind Fremont adopted the "Democratic Party" title in tribute to Van Buren (a member of the earlier Democrats), the only president to speak a germanic language.

English is Germanic.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Van Buren would have also been a native Dutch speaker, I believe.

I forgot about that! Perhaps the German-Americans who rallied behind Fremont adopted the "Democratic Party" title in tribute to Van Buren (a member of the earlier Democrats), the only president to speak a germanic language.

English is Germanic.

It is, isn't it. >sigh< This just isn't my day.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1892
 

August Vinzent Spies [Democratic-Manitoba]—44.0% General, 65.4% Runoff
Jeremiah Walter Bartlett [Whig-West Florida]—32.0% General, 34.6% Runoff
Miguel Jimenez y García [Commonwealth Liberal-Mexico]—24.0% General

For sixteen years, the Democrats had played the role of the Columbian Sisyphus, perpetually struggling towards the summit of Capitol Hill in a doomed battle to disrupt the Whig-Liberal duopoly that had dominated American politics since the days of Louis Papineau. The election of 1892 would bring this two party system crashing to the ground as August Spies, at 37 the youngest Democrat ever to stand for the presidency, won a resounding victory over his Whig opponent to become the 18th President of the Commonwealth of North America. Supported by a broad coalition of farmers, radical philosophers, and working class laborers, Spies succeeded where other Democrats had failed. While in past elections, the two major parties had joined forces to oppose the Democrats in the runoff, Spies persuaded the vast majority of Liberals to back him over the inflexible Bartlett. Thus, the Democrats gained their first president, and the eight year reign of the Campbellites came to an abrupt end.

[Intell]

Bump.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Bump.

Apologies for the delay - 1896 will be up shortly.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1896
 

August Vinzent Spies [Democratic-Manitoba]—39.3% General, 64.5% Runoff
Peter Jay McGuire [ASWI-New York]—25.0% General, 35.5% Runoff
Walter Jay Hughes [Opposition-Connecticut]—21.4% General
Juán San Pedro [Commonwealth-Nuevo León]—14.3% General

The electoral realignment begun with the Democratic victories of 1892 would be completed by the Election of 1892, as incumbent President August Spies was overwhelmingly reelected to the highest office in the Commonwealth. His was a victory not won without much strife. Opposition leaders, determined to roll back the inflationary economic programs passed by the Democratic Administration, rallied behind the candidacy of Walter Jay Hughes in hopes that Whigs and Liberals could set aside their differences and defeat Spies. These hopes proved in vain: the "National Opposition Party" formed to defeat the Democrats proved too disorganized and crippled by internal divisions to successfully topple the president. Instead, it was Peter McGuire, candidate of the American Section of the Workers' International, who faced Spies in the runoff. The result was a verifiable landslide for the incumbent, who won all but six provinces and nearly two thirds of the vote, ensuring that the populist reforms of the last four years would continue into the 20th Century.

See map of popular vote margin by province

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Election of 1900
 

Charles Edward MacDonald [ASWI-Niagara]—27.6% General, 53.1% Runoff
Henry Brooks Adams [Concordite-Massachusetts]—41.4% General, 46.9% Runoff
Terence Vincent Powderly [Democratic-Pennsylvania]—17.2% General
John Fiske [American-Connecticut]—10.3% General
Ramón Corral [Commonwealth-Nuevo Leon]—3.4% General

After eight years of Democratic control of la Maison Blanchet, opponents of the government of August Spies hoped that the Election of 1900 would yield a 'return to normalcy' and the liberal economic policies of the Third Party System. Instead, the public opted for a still more radical course, handing Socialist Charles MacDonald a hefty majority in the final round of balloting. Though the election was the closest in years, MacDonald still enjoyed a six point margin of victory over his opponent, former diplomat Henry Brooks Adams of the classically liberal "Concordite" party. The Democrats, meanwhile, were relegated to an embarrassing third place finish, signaling that the party was no longer in command of the radical engine it had constructed.