Which brings us to...
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13. William Learned Marcy (1841-1845) Republican Party - Term: 1
Vice-President: John Tyler, Jr. (
R-VA)
Secretary of State: Thomas H. Benton (
R-TN)
Secretary of the Treasury: Levi Woodbury (
R-NH)
Secretary of the Army: Franklin Pierce (
R-NH)
Secretary of the Navy: Joel R. Poinsett (
R-SC)
Attorney General: James J. Roosevelt (
R-NY) 1841-1842, Benjamin F. Butler (
R-NY)
Postmaster General: Amos Kendall (
R-KY)
Secretary of Development: Martin Van Buren (
R-NY)
Federalist Fatigue
Since William Eustis won back-to-back terms and left office in 1821, the Federalist Party has seen great success nationally: ten years of consecutive control of the legislature (1827-1837), twelve years of control of the Senate, three consecutive electoral victories since 1826, and four Presidents totaling 16 years in office in that period. The Republican Party, in contrast, won only one electoral victory in that time (1824) and didn't control either chamber of Congress until the 1838 Mid-Terms when they took the House. That is why, when the 1840 elections happened, many were shocked when the Federalist ticket of John Bell and Rufus Choate garnered zero electoral votes. Instead, the upstart third party campaign of Joseph Smith, the nationally prominent and controversial face of the Second Great Awakening, saw itself launched into the national spotlight, taking second place in the electoral vote and popular vote. Smith had been a Republican and his split had given Federalist leaders hope that they would prevail in general. Instead, the Christian Democrats managed to overtake the entirety of the West, where the Federalist's had garnered the most strength thanks to Hendricks, by narrowly winning the three-way split in those states. In New England, the independent campaign of Republican Libertine Lewis Tappan also drew the most hardcore Libertines that had joined the Federalist Party. The result, a full-shut out for the Federalists and an electoral and popular victory for the tattered, but united Republican Party. It wasn't the nicest of victories, but it gave William Learned Marcy a chance at leading the nation through the 'trying times' many expected to come. Marcy met with outgoing President Hendricks, keeping the tradition of the 'Final Advice' alive, and their meeting would be the longest such in the history of the Country. After his inauguration, Marcy gave a strong speech to Congress where he spoke of his plan of New Liberty, with many hints at the Federalist members to work with the Republicans against the newer Christian Democrats. The speech worked, at least somewhat, when the Republicans and Federalist united to vote in William C. C. Claiborne of Tennessee as Speaker of the House and Willie P. Magnum as President pro-tempore of the Senate, both moderate members of the party.
A Cake With Many Flavors
Still, this initial victory for Marcy was only the beginning of a long process for the administration. Without outright majorities in either chamber, Marcy knew that more hardcore Republican ideals would never get passed. For those in the party that wished to see the National Bank or tariffs eliminated entirely, these would not be the years in which they find success. Much of the early years of his presidency, in fact, saw record little done by the United States Government as many Federalists refused to work with Republicans and many Republicans refused to ally with Federalists, much to the chagrin of President Marcy. Though both parties feared the policies the Christian Democrats wished to implement, neither felt threatened enough to stop their bickering. The United States Government was, as written by popular poet Robert Merry in 1842, "a cake of many flavors." Marcy was trying to at least make the flavors blend.
His cabinet, a coalition of top party individuals and trusted Marcy allies from New York, had one goal placed on them by the President: doing whatever necessary to ensure a functioning Government. Vice-President Tyler, the face of the old-wing of the party, agreed to support the President's endeavors and campaigned actively in the Senate for unity, though confessed to his wife that he doubted the President's ambitions would succeed. Marcy would do what he could, then, using executive orders to cut back various programs under the Department of Development when Federalist's refused to back the move. Still, Marcy allowed many of the more essential programs to continue, particularly the rail line project to the Pacific, though he shortened their budgets/extended them. Secretary of Development Van Buren urged the President to go farther in his cuts, but these calls were not acted on. Aside from these measures, nothing largely significant congressionally happened during the first two years of his presidency. Marcy worked in the background, continuously meeting with congressional leaders of the Federalist and Republican mold as the 1842 Mid-Terms approached, but after the results came in, Republicans had lost some seats in the House (though they had gained in the Senate).
Not all was a loss in the early going, however, as Marcy was able to put his national plans for Federalist-Republican unity to a test in New York. Writings indicate that Marcy appeared before Attorney General James J. Roosevelt as early as a month after his inauguration. Roosevelt was a prominent Republican from New York City that had gained popularity amidst both the city Republicans (usually loyal to the Tammanend Machine) and the Albany Regency for his open views. Roosevelt was able to become Mayor of New York City from 1832 through 1840, time and time again defeating the Tammanend Republican Candidate by getting the endorsement of city Federalists and moderate Republicans alike. Marcy instructed Roosevelt with running a campaign for Governor of New York in the upcoming 1842 elections by allying with the Federalists of the State. This would be a hard endeavor to secure, particularly since New York had a strong Federalist Party, but a meeting between Roosevelt and the Van Rensselaers -the faces of New York's Federalist Party- went favorably, and Roosevelt won the New York Gubernatorial Election of 1842 soundly against the Tammanend "True Republican" Candidate. This would be the first success for Marcy, though it did not appear so at the time.
Of Natives and Brits
Regardless of the inability to find common ground during his first two years over in the Capital, there were various issues the President was still capable of influencing. One of these was the continuing dilemma of the Columbia Country, where American settles continued to embark towards in the face of on-going dispute with Britain over who owned the land. A gold rush started in late 1841 when reports came out of the Klamath Mountains of gold, leading to a huge move of Americans into the area (OTL Oregon) even though getting there proved perilous across the 'wild west' and with the finding of gold not being a secure prospect for many. Regardless, this exacerbated the American presence in the region from the Pacific to the State of Washington [1], furthering protests from the British and from the Natives along the way.
The Natives, who had lived rather peacefully under the Louisianan Government, had become hostile during William Hendrick's second term and with the rise of Americans in the region, these hostilities blew up. The natives had acquired arms from Louisianan merchants years prior and had also seen an influx of rebellious natives during the Second Northwest Indian War of the 20's, who had moved there precisely due to the lax Louisianan laws against them. Now that the area is American, the new generation of these varying native groups have found common ground behind various young leaders, who have proclaimed the area to be native territory, claiming American ownership of Northern Louisiana void. Marcy would send troops into the area but the lack of good transportation made the military campaign a slow effort and by 1842, Natives were attacking various settlements along the trails to the Pacific. Reports were also coming in of British backing, which Marcy would relay to Congress, calling for unity in the face of British aggression.
A New Liberty
Starting in late 1842, Marcy's plan for 'New Liberty' would begin to unfold. Similarly to President William Eustis, Marcy's government began releasing monthly writings in most major areas of the Country promoting unity against both foreign threats and internal threats that wish to undermine America's most fundamental trait: Liberty. This calculated measure was helped significantly by Post-Master General Amos Kendall, the face of the Republican press machine. Marcy would also begin touring the Country in the Spring of 1843, meeting with major Republican and Federalist leaders throughout the East Coast. He used this time to connect with the people and to push his aims, simultaneously, succeeding in becoming more popular after the 1842 Mid-Terms, despite the Government doing little to stop the economic problems that began during the Hendricks Presidency.
New Liberty was quite simple: it put American Unity at the forefront, pushing for the public to not fall towards the radical Christian Democrats and Joseph Smith. They certainly ascertained the importance of the Constitution and the liberties it guarantees, chief among them the separation of church from state. The pamphlets also echoed, in the same vein, the fight against government corruption that could occur by having religion share a bed with the decision making process of the Country. The second major objective of Marcy's New Liberty was the promotion of support for the Columbia Country as part of the United States, and sure enough, they worked in turning large portions of the Federalists, who had remained on the fence, towards outright support. Various other pamphlets were released throughout the Country that gained the endorsement of the President and his Cabinet, though were not official executive printings. These specified Marcy's separate campaign to unite the Federalists and Republicans in a political alliance for the 1844 elections, in order to defeat the Christian Democrats and to truly have a functioning Government. The success of such an alliance in New York along with his meetings with various state leaders propelled the idea of American Unity between Federalists and Republicans.
The second half of his Presidency was interesting for this reason. Marcy became a national figure for his tours and his political capital amongst the people, the state parties and the members of Congress grew greatly. Though the Government still accomplished little, as the 1844 elections grew near many Federalist and Republican leaders agreed to the makeshift alliance. The economy was worse in 1844 than it was at the end of Hendrick's Presidency, but Marcy had succeeded in convincing at least a large portion of the electorate that this was due to the disunity of the Government and that only through unity could the country emerge from it's current state. When news broke in April that British troops from Fort George had attacked the largest American settlement in the region at Fort Hendricks, imprisoning all survivors and destroying the fort, Marcy made it clear he would be seeking a second term from the Republicans AND the Federalists, gaining the support of many Federalists on a stated platform of moderation, scaling back of the Bank/tariffs without ending them, and, most importantly, standing together against Britain.
Historians are quick to point out that a large portion of the Federalists were against these attempts at alliance, instead arguing in favor of pushing through independently. Likewise, hardcore Republicans also found themselves against alliance measures. Both of these groups, however, represent the minority of each party. The success of Marcy's plans are largely attributed to the growth of the Christian Democrats, whose positions radicalized extremely after their birth in 1840 and pushed the Federalists and Republicans closer together. It remains to be seen if Marcy's gamble will work in securing the alliance as the Federalist's are still holding a separate meeting to select their nominee, but both parties are having their respective Conventions in Philadelphia at the same time. The Christian Democrats have cemented themselves, at least partially, and are looking to break the political duopoly that has existed, already casting both parties as one and the same in their writings, with Smith famously quoted saying "The Federalist and Republican Parties are close together and far from God."
[1] Washington is Illinois ITTL, just a reminder.
