The Whig Campaign of 1840:
The Editorial Policy of George D. Prentice
B e t t y Carolyn Congleton”
The loss of popularity suffered by the Democrats as a
result of the Panic of 1837 was an obvious advantage for
the Whig party in the presidential campaign of 1840. A
combination of heterogeneous groups organized in opposition
to Jacksonian Democracy, the Whigs were confronted with
the necessity of selecting a candidate who could win the support of the diverse groups within the party. The principal
contenders for the nomination were William Henry Harrison,
Daniel Webster, and the ever-ambitious Henry Clay.
In previous presidential campaigns Clay’s staunchest
editorial support in Kentucky had come from the pen of
George D. Prentice, editor of the Louisville Daily Journal.
Founded in November, 1830, to promote Clay’s candidacy in
1832, the Journal promptly became the most widely circulated
newspaper west of the m0untains.l A warm personal friend
and admirer of Clay, Prentice was also an astute politician
who recognized the necessity for unanimity within the Whig
party in the campaign of 1840. He believed that the Whigs
must unite in favor of a candidate, chosen by a national
convention, who could attract the vote of the diverse elements
* Betty Carolyn Congleton is assistant professor of history at East
Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
1 The son of Rufus and Sarah Stanton Prentice, George D. Prentice
was born in New London County, Connecticut, December 18, 1802.
After graduation from Brown University in 1823, he taught school
and later studied medicine and law before becoming editor of T h e
N e w England Review in 1826. I n 1830 Prentice accepted an invitation
to write a campaign biography of Henry Clay. With John Greenleaf
Whittier in his chair a s editor of the W e e k l y Review, Prentice traveled
to Kentucky in midsummer, 1830 to collect material for the Clay
biography. Shortly after his arrival in Kentucky he accepted the
editorship of the Louisville Daily Journal. With A. J. Buxton, former
proprietor of the Cincinnati Chronicle as publisher, the first issue of
the Journal was distributed on November 24, 1830. Within a short
time Prentice’s fame a s a bold editor of unusual talent spread across
America. C. J. F. Birney, T h e History and Genealogy of the Prentice
o r Prentiss F a m i l y in N e w England, f r o m 1631 t o 1852 (Boston, 1852),
1 ; Betty Carolyn Congleton, “The Louisville Journal: Its Origins and
Early Years,” T h e Registey of the K e n t u c k y Historical Society, LXII
(April, 1964), 87-92. See also Betty Carolyn Congleton, “George D.
Prentice and His Editorial Policy in National Politics, 1830-1861”
(Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of History, University of Kentucky, 1962).
234
Indiana Magazine of History
within the party and also win the support of the discontented
Democrats. Clay’s widely known political record and his
defeats in 1824 and 1832 were regarded as decided disadvantages for the “Sage of Ashland.”z
As early as August, 1837, Clay addressed a letter to
Prentice in which he suggested that, regardless of his inclination, he should again be forced into the presidential arena.
“It is right,” he wrote, “that I should put you in possession
of some of the information which has reached me.” Since
election forecasts from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana
suggested the inevitable downfall of the Van Buren administration, Clay surmised that “as a necessary consequence some
Whig must be elected, if we can unite in favor of anyone.”
He explained to Prentice that in response to a letter of inquiry
from a “Committee of 170” in New York City he had said he
did not wish to have his name used unless there was reason to
believe that he was favored by a majority of the Whigs
throughout the country. He further told Prentice:
I have no wish, not the least wish to be run without a high degree of
probability of success. If there be a convention, I shall most cheerfully
acquiesce in its decision, be that what it may. . . I think i t premature
to hold public meetings now and publicly to discuss at large the P.
question; but perhaps some such occasional notice of me as I have
hinted may serve to counteract the efforts to put me aside, or put
me down by the zealous partisans of other candidates.3
.
Clay was confident that western New York preferred him to
all other candidates; and he believed that he was a strong
contender throughout New England and in South Carolina,
Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia. Believing that Prentice’s
2Clay had been active in the arena of national politcs since his
arrival in Washington in 1811 to serve as Kentucky’s representative
in the House. Promptly elected Speaker, he also served as a leader
of the “war hawks” and commissioner to negotiate the Treaty of
Ghent and was influential in framing the Missouri Compromise. AS
the fourth man in the contest for the presidency in 1824, Clay gave his
support to John Quincy Adams who invited the Kentuckian to serve
as secretary of state, 1825-1829. Clay was defeated in 1832 in his
second bid for the presidency against the incumbent Andrew Jackson.
Widely known for his “American System,” which favored the protective
tariff and federal aid for internal improvements, Clay also sponsored
the Compromise Tariff of 1833. See Clement Eaton, Henry Clay and
the Art o f American Politics (Boston, 1957).
3 Henry Clay to George D. Prentice, August 14, 1837, typescript in
the papers of Henry Clay assembled for publication by the University
of Kentucky, to be edited by James F. Hopkins and Mary W. M.
Hargreaves. Unless otherwise indicated all letters cited in this article
a r e typewritten copies from this collection, hereafter cited as Clay
Papers.
T h e Whig Campaign of 1840
235
talents would be more valuable in the capital city, the prospective candidate noted his desire that arrangements be completed to entice the editor to move to W a ~ h i n g t o n . ~
Although there are no known extant issues of the Louisville Journal for 1838, Prentice probably followed Clay’s
suggestion and expressed a preference for him as the Whig
presidential andi id ate.^ At least, several other southern Whig
newspapers endorsed the Kentuckian; and by 1839 the Whigs
of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, and North
Carolina had indicated a preference for Clay.6
Early in January, 1839, Prentice already had begun to
exercise extreme caution in his comments concerning the
leading Whig contenders for the nomination. He informed
his readers that because he had been among the first to urge
the selection of a candidate by a national convention, he was
reluctant to print anything about the prospective candidates.?
A few days later he noted, “We perceive, that a writer in
the Cincinnati Republican is publishing a series of voluminous
articles to prove the ‘capacity’ of General Harrison. Let Mr.
Clay be the candidate, and the Whigs will be saved the trouble
of all such disagreeable discussions.”8 The next day, however,
following a comment on the scheduled date of the national
convention, he wrote:
Whether the meeting of the Convention be early or late, we a r e confident that the Kentucky statesman will be nominated by a n overwhelming majority; and moreover, we have the consolation of knowing,
that if the nomination fall on the hero of Tippecanoe, we shall have
for our candidate a distinguished and venerable patriot, whom we have
once supported with zeal and in whose talents and virtues we still have
unabated c0nfidence.Q
Thus the editor of the Journal acknowledged that he would
support the Whig party in its bid for the presidency if either
Harrison or Clay were the candidate.
Zbid.
I n January, 1838, following the suggestion of John J. Crittenden,
the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution calling for a national
convention and at the same time endorsed Clay for president. See
Albert D. Kirwan, J o h n J . Crittenden: T h e Struggle f o r the Union
(Lexington, 1962), 130.
6Arthur Charles Cole, T h e W h i g P a r t y in the S o u t h (Washington,
1913), 57.
7 Louisville Daily Journal, January 11, 1839.
glbid., January 17, 1839.
elbid., January 18, 1839.
4
5
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I n d h n u Magazine of History
The Whig National Convention was scheduled for December, 1839. During the early weeks of that year Clay became
concerned when one of the Harrison faction prompted the
Whigs in Washington to hold “several consultations” in regard
to rescheduling the convention for “September or some earlier
month.”lo Apparently he believed that his bid for the nomination would be strengthened if the meeting were held at the
regular time. In a letter to his son, the Kentuckian also noted
that he was “inclined” to believe that Webster had decided to
lend his support to the Harrison faction.ll Despite these
developments Clay claimed that his prospects for the Whig
nomination were improving.lz
Prentice was obviously anxious to avoid extensive discussion of the contenders for the Whig nomination. On May 1
he printed a brief notice of the national convention scheduled
to convene in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December, 1839.
A short time later the Louisville Journal listed the states of
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Delaware,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Louisiana, and Mississippi
in the Whig column with a total of 182 electoral votes. This
tally included thirty-four more votes that were needed for
v i ~ t 0 r y . l ~Probably prompted by public ridicule, Prentice in
midJuly admitted his restraint in commenting on the Whig
candidates and extolled the virtues of Henry Clay, Kentucky’s
“noblest and greatest where many are noble and great. . . .”14
As summer waned into autumn, there were widespread
rumors of Clay’s expected withdrawal as a contender for the
Whig nomination. Although candidly informed of the rising
strength of Harrison, Clay insisted that he await the “proper
moment’’ or some “authentic form” before publicly announcing
his withdrawal.’& Such a time never came. The senator
10CIay to Harrison Gray Otis, January 24, 1839, Clay Papers;
Clay to Peter Buel Porter, February 5, 1839, ibid.
11 Clay to Henry Clay, Jr., January 18, 1839, Henry Clay Memorial
Foundation, Lexington, Kentucky.
12Zbid.; Clay to Harrison Gray Otis, February 18, 1839, Clay
Papers.
la Louisville Daily Journal, June 22, 1839.
14Ibid., July 17, 1839.
15 Oliver H. Smith to Clay, September 28, 1839, and Clay to Oliver
H. Smith, October 5, 1839, quoted in 0. H. Smith, Early Zndiana Trials
and Sketches: Reminiscences . . . (Cincinnati, 1858), 252-54; Clay to
Peter Buel Porter, September 27, 1839, Clay Papers; Clay to William H.
Seward, September 26, 1839, ibid.
The Whig Campaign of 18.40
237
decided to leave the “issue to the people and to Providence.’’16
As December 4,the date scheduled for opening the convention
in Harrisburg, drew nearer, Clay admitted that the Whigs
were suffering from division within the party. The report of
an intensified movement to nominate Winfield Scott caused
Clay to suggest that the “firmness” of his friends was the
only security against the nomination of General Scott.“
Perseverence was not enough. On December 4,Leslie Combs,
a prominent Lexington, Kentucky, attorney, addressed to Clay
a confidential letter from Harrisburg in which he declared,
“You have been deceived betrayed and beaten by Northern
abolition antimasonry and the Dutch and the Dane.” Combs
concluded, “There has in my opinion been a deliberate conspiracy against you by the friends of Mr. Webster. . . .”18
In order to avoid any discussion that would hinder the
national interest of the Whig party, the Journal during the
autumn of 1839 refrained from mentioning the impending
Whig National Convention. Finally, on December 6, Prentice
noted that the convention’s deliberations had probably closed.
“We express no opinion as to the result. Our trust however,
is, that the country’s delegates have put forward the best
man, confiding his cause to God and the people.”19 Ten days
later the Journal printed the official tabulation of the convention’s final ballot. Directly under the masthead appeared
the following lines:
“Union of the Whigs for the sake of the Union”
Nomination by the Whig National Convention
for President
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, O F OHIO
for Vice-president
JOHN TYLER, O F VIRGINIA
In a column captioned “Our Position,” Prentice reminded his
readers that, although he had advocated the nomination of
Clay, it was equally well known that he had declared his
Clay to Nathan Sargent, October 25, 1839, Clay Papers.
1TClay to Peter Buel Porter, December 4, 1839, ibid.; Clay to
Harrison Gray Otis, December 4, 1839, ibid.
1 8 Leslie Combs to Clay, December 4, 1839, ibid. See also Freeman
Cleaves, Old Tippecanoe: W i l l i a m H e n r y Harrison and H i s T i m e (New
York, 1939), 314-17; Dorothy Burne Goebel, W i l l i a m H e n r y H a r k o n :
A Political Biography (Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. XIV; Indianapolis, 1926), 341-44; Kirwan, J o h n J . Crittenden, 131.
19 Louisville Daily Journal, December 6, 1839.
16
Indiana Magazine of History
238
determination t o support the nominee of the national convention.20 The names of Harrison and Tyler remained under
the Journal’s masthead until after the election.
Harrison, an old military hero who had seldom taken
a n active or aggressive position on controversial political
issues, was the choice of the Whig National Convention. Members felt he was least likely to offend large segments of the
electorate.21 Acknowledging this fact, Prentice stated that he
would yield his warmest support to the convention’s nominee
even if he “did not approve of the decision.” The editor
also added that each passing day proved the wisdom of the
choice of Harrison because:
The sound of his name will not, like that of Mr. Clay, rally to the
standard of their old party that large mass of honest original supporters
of General Jackson, who, disgusted with the abuses that have crept into
the government, are ready to unite with the opposition under any
leader but their old hereditary enemy [Clay].22
Prentice also urged Clay’s friends to support Harrison and
admonished those who were unwilling to do so to read the
Kentuckian’s letter to the national convention in which he
had promised to give his “cordial support” to the nominee.23
The Journal, with its office in Louisville, was in a strategic location to promote the campaign of the Whig candidate
in 1840. A rapidly growing industrial community, Louisville
had expanded its commercial interests as a result of the
numerous steamboats that plied the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers. It boasted of enjoying the most extensive economic
enterprise of any city of comparable size in the world.24 One
of the best lighted cities in America, its formerly dark and
dangerous streets now brilliantly illuminated by gas lights,
Louisville attracted hundreds of travelers who, inadvertently
or consciously, helped promote the Journal’s fame.25 The daily
Zbid., December 16, 1839.
Edward Stanwood, A H i s t o v of the Presidency f r o m 1788 to 1897
(Boston, 1898), 193; E. Malcolm Carroll, Origins of t h e W h i g P a r t y
(Durham, 1925), 220; Cole, W h i g P a r t y in t h e South, 57; Cleaves, Old
Tzppecanoe, 311, 317.
22 Louisville Daily Journal, January 11, 1840.
23Zbid., January 12, 1840.
24 Ben Casseday, T h e History of Louisville, f r o m I t s Earliest Settlement til t h e Y e a r 1852 (Louisville, 1852), 201. Sir Charles Lyell, who
visited the city in 1846, spoke of Louisville as a “noble sight for a great
commercial town.” Sir Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to t h e United
States of N o r t h America (2 vols., London, 1849), 11, 210.
25 Casseday, History of
Louisville, 201. Lady Emmeline Stuart
Worthley, Travels in t h e United S t a t e s During 1849 and 1850 (New
York, 1855), 93.
20
21
The Whig Campaign of 18.40
239
traffic of the steamboats, moreover, enabled the Journal to
reach the South and Southwest promptly.
Immediately after Harrison’s nomination and throughout
the month of January, Prentice supported the Whig candidate
with enthusiasm. He described Harrison as a man of integrity
who could be trusted to introduce economy into the administration of public affairs. The editor emphasized that the
“honest and gallant old farmer and hero” of North Bend
had pledged himself not to be a candidate for a second term;
thus, without a motive for abusing his power or patronage
he should work to reform the evils under which the American
people had suffered for years. Prentice promised to dedicate
all his powers to the interest of the “cause of the Whigs and
the Constitution.”26
Personally disappointed because Harrison had won the
nomination, Clay nonetheless recognized that the convention’s
choice was final. He wrote his son, “I have publicly and
privately expressed my determination to abide by and support
the nomination.’’ He likewise assured his acquaintances of
his intention to support the Whig andi id ate.^' On January 15,
in a letter to Clay, Harrison expressed his gratitude for the
Kentuckian’s “magnanimity” and requested “any advice or
suggestions” the senator could offer.28 Early in 1840 Clay
wrote of the “favorable” and “encouraging” prospects for
the election of the general.2g Although he continued to believe
that “intrigues” were associated with Harrison’s nomination,
Clay preferred the general over Van Buren. “With Harrison,”
he wrote, “there is hope, much hope, with Van Buren there is
no hope w h a t e ~ e r . ” ~By
~ midsummer Clay predicted the
certainty of a Whig victory, saying that Van Buren would
carry only six
Louisville Daily Journal, January 14, 1840.
Clay to Henry Clay, Jr., December 15, 1839, Henry Clay Memorial
Foundation; Clay to John Strode Barbour, December 14, 1839, Clay
Papers; Clay to Harrison Gray Otis, December 19, 1839, ibid.
28 William Henry Harrison to Clay, January 15, 1840, Clay Papers.
29 Clay to Henry Clay, Jr., February 22, 1840, Henry Clay Memorial
Foundation; Clay to James Erwin, January 10, 1840, Clay Papers; Clay
to Alexander Miller, April 4, 1840, ibid.
3OClay to William Browne, July 31, 1840, Clay Papers.
31 Clay to M. Shaw, July 29, 1840, ibid.; Clay to Francis T. Brooke,
July 28, 1840, ibid.; Clay to R. C. Winthrop, September 1, 1840, ibid.;
Clay to Henry Henson, September 5, 1840, ibid.; Clay to Joseph Gales,
Jr., September 27, 1840, ibid.
26
27
240
I n d i a n a Magazine of History
The Whigs regarded a victory in 1840 as essential to the
survival of the party. A correspondent for the Baltimore
Republican inadvertently helped their campaign when he suggested that if Harrison were given a barrel of hard cider
and a pension, he would spend the “remainder of his days
in his log cabin by the side of a ‘sea coal’ fire, and study
moral p h i l o ~ o p h y . ” ~
Thomas
~
Elder, a Pennsylvania banker,
and Richard S. Elliott, a Harrisburg editor, capitalized on
the reporter’s statement and built a transparency featuring
Harrison’s log cabin, complete with a coonskin nailed to the
wall and a woodpile with a barrel of cider nearby.33 The
Whigs immediately embraced the plebian symbols: the log
cabin, hard cider, and coonskin cap became the emblems of
a party destined for victory. Huge log cabins with barrels
of hard cider nearby were erected in cities and towns across
the country. Smaller cabins were constructed on wagons and
carts and pulled in the great torchlight processions and
parades of the enthusiastic Whigs. Pictures and cartoons of
Harrison at the door of a log cabin home and transparencies
depicting similar scenes were a part of every great procession.
The Journal reveals that in 1840 the Whigs of Louisville
adopted many of the festivities and campaign techniques
used elsewhere by party members. The Young Whigs of
Louisville were organized, and ward committees were appointed. In mid-May a full day was devoted to the erection
of a log cabin near Horn’s Coffee House which became the
site of all future Whig meetings. A great barbecue for party
members from Kentucky and Indiana, held at Harrod’s Creek
on May 28, was a success despite the torrential rain which
soaked the field with mud and water. More than 8,000 people
attended the celebration and partook of the 40 beeves, 50
sheep, 120 hams, and more than 100 barrels of cider that were
Although in 1840 Whig newspapers across America devoted their columns to cartoons, poems, and songs designed
to emphasize rhyme rather than reason, the Journal experienced one of the most uninteresting years of its existence.
Prentice wrote only fifteen or twenty full-column editorials
during the entire campaign. Each day he printed two or three
3 2 Robert Gray Gunderson, T h e Log-Cabin Campaign (Lexington,
1957), 74; Cleaves, Old Tippecanoe, 320-21.
33 Gunderson, Log-Cabin Campaign, 75-76.
34 Louisville DaiZg Journal, February 28, May 13, 28, July 4, October
20, 1840.
The W h i g Campaign of 18-40
241
columns composed of five and six line paragraphs mentioning
events related to the Whigs in various parts of America.
Usually these paragraphs emphasized incidents denoting
success for the party. Prentice was striving for a psychological
effect: if you want to be on the bandwagon with the victors,
support the Whigs. The editor sometimes revealed his wit
and humor as he sought to convey deeper political concepts.
One such paragraph read: “ ‘Come boys’, said General Harrison to his army of 2000, ‘let’s take Detroit‘. It w a s taken.
‘Come boys’, said Mr. Van Buren to his army of 40,000, ‘let’s
take the revenue’. I t w a s taken.’’35 Nevertheless, the Journal
refrained from printing a campaign slogan or cartoon; and
the seven-verse “Log Cabin Song” and “Mr. Van Buren’s
Farewell to the Palace’’ were the only campaign poems to
appear in the J o u m c ~ l . ~ ~
The Journal editorial style in 1840 probably resulted from
a combination of circumstances. Despite his commitment to
support the candidate of the national convention, Prentice
was doubtless personally disappointed that his friend Clay had
not received the honor. He may also have disliked using the
“rhyme without reason” tactics of his fellow editors; and since
the convention had failed to adopt a platform, he had no
“specific” program to defend. Prentice probably concentrated
on brief editorial paragraphs rather than lengthy articles as
the medium which best represented his own talent and as the
best possible course under the circumstances.
In their effort to win the election, the Whigs throughout
the country sought the vote of various minority groups.57
The Journal, likewise, appealed directly to people of German
origin and to those of Roman Catholic faith. Repeated announcements of political meetings for the Germans indicated
that Whig candidates would address the group and, in many
cases, that speeches would be delivered in both English and
German.38 Prentice also defended a Jefferson County court
resolution which required more exhaustive information from
naturalized citizens who desired to vote. He explained that
the objective was to procure sufficient evidence so that all
those eligible were guaranteed the right to
I n an
appeal to the Catholics Prentice quoted the Catholic Miscellany,
Ibid., July 8, 1840.
36Zbid., September 14, October 2, 1840.
37 Gunderson, Log-Cabin Campaign, 154-55.
3 8 Louisville DaiZg Journal, June 29, July 1, 28, 1840.
BQIbid., July 9, 14, 1840.
35
242
I n d i u m Magazine of History
which publication contended that Van Buren had attempted
in 1834 to exclude the group from the New York legislature.
The Journal’s editor inquired:
We now ask those of you fellow-citizens, who came to America t o enjoy
the blessings of religious toleration; what claims this man has to your
support. . . . Thank God, religious toleration is a p a r t of our glorious
system in despite of [sic] such men as Martin Van Burem40
On the eve of the August election in Kentucky the Journal
carried some of the most militant editorial paragraphs ever
to appear in its columns. After admonishing all Kentuckians
to vote, Prentice exhorted:
On Monday morning next, at earliest dawn, let your camps be in motion.
Let your columns march up with the serried strength of a Macedonian
Phalanx. The militia of Kentucky a r e among the foremost of the
Harrison forces in the Van of the army. If you do your duty, the victory
can be won at the first onset.41
On the first day of the state election he proclaimed, “Look
here, fellow Whigs! If you eat your dinner to-day before
depositing your vote, may your beef and potatoes set like
fifty nightmares upon your stomach!”42 On the third and
final morning of the balloting the Journal sent forth this
editorial charge: “TO the polls-to the polls-ye Whigs of
’40. Let this year be as memorable in after ages as the year
that rescued you from foreign tryant [sic]. Onward! Onward!
ONWARD !”43
After Kentucky gave a tremendous victory to the Whigs
in the state election, Prentice reminded his readers what a
Whig vote in the presidential election would mean: one
presidential term, restoration of the federal government to
its legitimate objects, and restoration of power to the
people.44 As the returns from state elections across the country
revealed a rising tide of Whig victories, the Journal predicted
one thing as certain: “Mr. Van Buren will be worse beaten
in November next than any candidate for the presidency
ever has been since the birth of the Republic.”45 Predictions
40Zbid., October 26, 1840.
41Zbid., July 28, 1840.
42Zbid., August 1, 1840. Prior to 1850 the polls in Kentucky were
open for three days for the election of both state and national officials.
Candidates for offices in the state government and for United States
representatives were elected in August; the presidential election was
held in November.
43 Louisville Daily Journal, August 3, 1840.
44Zbid., August 11, 1840.
45 Zbid., September 26, 1840.
The Whig Campaign of 1840
243
of the extinction of the Locofoco race were accompanied by
the suggestion that “a specimen ought to be preserved in gin
for the gratification of the curiosity of future generation^."^^
As the federal election drew near, Prentice wrote with
more enthusiasm. Confident of victory, he urged his fellow
Whigs to “march up to the ballot-box as Old Tip and his
soldiers used to march to their country’s battle field^."^'
Victory was in the air on the final day of balloting in Louisville. Harrison had received 2,220 votes; only 985 were cast
for Van Buren. On Wednesday night aftre the polls closed,
ten thousand Whigs assembled in Louisville for a great
demonstration. Marching through the streets with bands,
banners, transparencies, and cannons, they stopped in front
of the Galt House Hotel, the Louisville Hotel, and the homes
of several individuals. Prentice, elated because the throng
halted in front of his home, referred to the incident a s “a
mark of regard never to be forgotten
. we were more
than rewarded for all our
Although Prentice had supported the Whig ticket, he had
shown little enthusiasm for Harrison after the early weeks
of January. Despite the Journal’s apathy, the Whig vote in
Kentucky was never again to exceed that of 1840.49 The old
general had received 64.2 per cent of the state’s vote, which
fact won for Kentucky the title of “banner state of the
nation.” The bulk of Harrison’s vote had come from the
eastern hill country, the Penny-royal, and the inner and outer
It appears that the Journal may have had little,
if any, influence on the outcome of the election in Kentucky.
According to one author, “General Harrison’s personal appeal
to a n electorate where fighting was still a chief sport and
where the frontier lingered in the memory if not in fact,
coupled with the predilection for Whig party loyalty brought
..
46Zbid,, September 30, 1840. The name Locofoco originated in a
meeting of the Democratic party at Tammany Hall on October 29, 1835.
I n a protest meeting the regular members adjourned and turned out
the gas lights. Members of the radical wing of the party remained
and conducted their meeting by the light of candles which had been
lighted with the new self-igniting matches known as locofocos. Prentice
used the name exclusively when referring to the Democratic party.
4 7 Louisville Daily Journal, October 26, 1840.
48Zbid., November 7, 1840.
49 Ruth McQuown and Jasper B. Shannon, Presidential Politics in
Kentucky, 1824-1948 (Lexington, 1950), 13.
50Bourbon County gave 74 per cent of her vote to Harrison. Two
other Bluegrass counties that gave unusual percentages to Harrison were
Fayette, Clay’s home county, with 70.7 per cent and Clark with 83.4
per cent. Zbid.
Indiana Magazine of History
244
Kentucky closer to party unanimity than i t had known since
1824 or was to know again until the Civil War.”51
President-elect Harrison made plans to visit Kentucky
after the election. On November 2 he wrote Clay, “I have a
long account to settle with C. Wickliffe and about thursday
or friday [sic] next will set out via Louisville for Frankfort.
I will write you from one of those places so that you can
meet me at the latter.” Referring to this letter, Clay assured
Robert P. Letcher of Frankfort that when he learned of
Harrison’s arrival in the capital city he would go down to
meet him. Expressing the hope that Letcher would be at
home to meet Harrison, Clay urged him to mention the contemplated visit to no one except John J. Crittenden.52 Appreciating Clay’s desire to retain the leadership of the Whigs,
especially in Kentucky, Harrison wrote Clay another letter
on November 15. Now fearful that a “personal meeting
might give rise to speculations and even jealousies which it
might be well to avoid,” Harrison urged Clay to send a friend
to Frankfort to communicate with him.53
Upon the president-elect’s arrival in Kentucky on November 17, citizens of Louisville were joined by people from
Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana, in a spectacular
celebration. Thousands paraded the streets past lighted
windows decorated with transparencies, mottos, and wreaths
of flowers, while other thousands gazed in amazement at the
spectacle. The Journal compared the people’s excitement with
that of the poor cripple in the Scriptures who leaped for
joy when restored by the Savior. Prentice inquired, “Why
should not we shout and rejoice, when, our country, through
the providence of God, is raised up from the deadliest paralysis
that ever fell upon a Republic?”54
The Journal otherwise gave little attention to the Kentucky visit of the president-elect. Harrison’s speech at
Versailles, Kentucky, in which he gave a toast to Clay, was
doubtless over emphasized by Prentice. The old general was
credited with having said that he considered Clay “the fittest
51 Ibid.
52 Clay to Robert P. Letcher, November 4, 1840, Clay Papers. Clay
quotes Harrison’s letter. See George Rawlings Poage, H e n r y Clay and
t h e W h i g P a r t y (Chapel Hill, 1936), 15-17;and Cleaves, OZd Tippecunoe,
329. Both authors reveal that they were unaware that Clay received
the Harrison letter dated November 2.
53 William Henry Harrison to Clay, November
15, 1840, Clay
Papers.
54 Louisville D a i l y Journal, November 19, 1840.
The Whig Campaign of 1840
245
man in the nation for the Presidency,” and that he would
“resign the office at once, on his arrival at Washington,
were it possible for him, by so doing to confer it on the distinguished K e n t u ~ k i a n . ” ~ ~
Although the president-elect wished to avoid a personal
consultation with Clay, the senator was unwilling to be
denied such an advantage when he knew that his staunchest
political enemies, the Wickliffes of Bardstown, anticipated
a conference with Harrison. Consequently both Clay and a
committee of Lexingtonians met the president-elect in Frankfort and urged him to visit Lexington.56 Harrison accepted
the invitation and was still in that city when Clay left for
Washington to resume his duties a s United States e en at or.^'
While Harrison visited and dined at Ashland, he was
informed of Clay’s desire to remain in the Senate, where he
wished to retain the leadership of the Whigs in Congress,
rather than to become a member of the president’s Cabinet.58
Anxious to avoid any evidence that he was seeking to dominate
the administration, Clay nonetheless reminded the presidentelect that he believed no Whig president should ignore Daniel
W e b ~ t e r .During
~~
their conversation Harrison made no commitments to Clay and gave no hint of his choices for the
Cabinet.6o Clay’s later request for an appointment for John
Marshall Clayton was ignored.61
The final choices for the Harrison Cabinet were Daniel
Webster, secretary of state; John J. Crittenden, attorney
general; Thomas Ewing, secretary of the treasury; John Bell,
secretary of war; Francis Granger, postmaster general; and
George E. Badger, secretary of the navy.62 The Journal gave
its enthusiastic approval to the choices and singled out
Webster as a man who possessed more intellectual power than
55Zbid., December 2, 1840.
56 Poage, Henry Clay and the W h i g P a r t y , 16-17.
57 Clay to Peter Buel Porter, December 8, 1840, Clay Papers; Clay
to Francis T. Brooke, December 8, 1840, ibid.
58Clay to Peter Buel Porter, December 8, 1840, ibid.; Clay to
Francis T. Brooke, December 8, 1840, ibid.
59Clay t o Peter Buel Porter, December 8, 1840, February 7, 1841,
ibid.; Clay to Francis T. Brooke, December 8, 1840, ibid.; Clay to
William Henry Harrison, March 15, 1841, ibid.
60 Clay to Francis T. Brooke, December 8, 1840, ibid.; Clay to Peter
Buel Porter, December 8, 1840,ibid.; Clay to James T. Austin, December
10, 1840, ibid.
elClay to John Marshall Clayton, December 29, 1840, January 17,
February 12, 1841, ibid.
EZPoage, Henry Clay and the W h i g P a r t y , 19; Cleaves, Old
Tippecanoe, 330, 333; Kirwan, John J . Crittenden, 138; Goebel, William
Henry Hamison, 366.
Indiana Magazine of Histom
246
the whole Van Buren Cabinet.53 “The old hero’s selection
of six such men to aid him in the administration of the
government shows that the confidence reposed in him by the
American people has not been misplaced,” Prentice wrote.
“His designated cabinet is abler than that of any one of his
predecessors from Washington
Thus the Journal
appeared to approve of the Harrison administration.
Upon his arrival in Washington in December, 1840, Clay
determined to assume a position of leadership in the Whig
party. Shortly after the inauguration, however, the senator
discovered that his greatest difficulty in leading the party was
his inability to lead the president. When Clay attempted to
persuade Harrison to call an extra session of Congress, he
was reprimanded by the chief executive who wrote, “you
are too impetuous, much as I rely upon your judgment there
are others whom I must consult. . . . ’ “ j 5 Already preparing
to leave the capital and unable to arrange a private conference
with the president, Clay replied to Harrison in a letter
marked “Private and Confidential.” He declared, “I was
mortified by the suggestion you made to me on saturday [sic],
that I had been represented as dictating to you or to the
new administration-mortif ied, because it is unfounded in
fact, and because there is danger of the fears, that I intimated
to you a t Frankfort, of my enemies poisoning your mind
towards me.”6c Despite Clay’s concern the old president had
refused to allow the Kentuckian to dominate his administration.
Clay was already in Lexington when Harrison died on
April 4. Five days later the Journal, edged in black, printed
one brief paragraph to announce the death of the president
of the United States. The following morning Prentice printed
three short paragraphs in which he commented upon Harrison’s last words. In conclusion, he wrote, “The principles
of the Government will be remembered; the vice president,
the Harrison Cabinet, and the new Congress will carry out
his patriotic views; and our beloved country will yet be
restored to its true principle^."^^ The editor of the Journal
had no eulogy for the president; possibly he had been offended
by Harrison’s refusal to receive the advice of Clay.
Louisville Daily Journal, January 1, 1841.
February 23, 1841.
6 5 William Henry Harrison t o Clay, March 13, 1841, Clay Papers.
See also Cleaves, Old Tippeeanoe, 339-40.
55Clay to William Henry Harrison, March 15, 1841, Clay Papers.
137 Louisville Daily Journal, April 10, 1841.
53
54 Ibid.,