Incidents in the Campaign of 1844.
New Haven, Connecticut: 1905. 60pp. "Printed for private distribution among old friends." This is an admiring portrait of Henry Clay, who Abraham Lincoln said was "my ideal of a great man" and who ran as the Whig candidate for president in 1844 against James K. Polk and lost in a close contest; New York's 36 electoral votes were the difference, and Polk won them by just 5,000 votes. However, Clay took the unpopular stance of opposing the Mexican-American War and the idea that American had a "manifest destiny" (as the Democrats believed). Clay also opposed admitting Texas as a state; he felt it would revive the slavery issue and provoke Mexico (which it did, leading to the Mexican-American War in 1846). The author, then a boy, offers his own recollections of the campaign coverage and seeing Clay parade up Broadway. Gray covers with four-color title page. 5 by 7. Item #16775
Price: $75.00