Excerpt from "A New President, A New Precedent: the 1804 Elections and the Hamilton Presidency."
Published in Sheabe, Yakima (2019)
With President Madison's eventful presidency coming to an end, the United States prepared to choose a new president in the 1804 Presidential Elections. While Madison was a relatively popular president, the public grew increasingly wary of the rule of the Republican Party. For sixteen consecutive years, the Republican Party held the leadership of the Executive Branch and the people desired a different party to take the helm. The most obvious choice was the Union Party, which was debatably the most popular party in the nation. So when the Union Party nominated the popular New York Senator and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as its presidential candidate, many Unionists, and even members of other parties, enthusiastically supported his presidential bid. However, several hurdles blocked Hamilton's path to the White House.
The 1804 Presidential Race was heavily contested, despite Hamilton's relative popularity in the eastern (and most populated) regions of the United States. The Republican Party nominated Senator Samuel Bryan of Pennsylvania. Representing the more rural parts of the state, Senator Samuel Bryan was a compromise pick between the Republicans and the Democrats. He was conservative enough for the Democratic Party to put their weight behind him while at the same time, he was flexible to moderate ideas that earned him the approval of the Republican Party. In Congress, Senator Bryan was notably famous for opposing Hamilton's progressive initiatives (some of which were borderline radical for the era) and criticizing the Union Party for "talking much, but accomplishing little." If anyone could fight the Unionist presidential candidate on the national stage, it was Samuel Bryan. And he did. When Hamilton debated with Bryan on various issues, Senator Bryan produced well-articulated, sensible answers that were persuasive. Even though Alexander Hamilton was able to motivate voters by working tirelessly to campaign throughout the United States (even in western states such as Kentucky), publishing his extremely detailed policies, and promising sweeping reforms if he was elected, Bryan chipped away some of Hamilton's voter base and weakened his position.
(It's important to note that during this time period, a "Conservative" was usually one that held conservative social views and pro-agricultural economic views. The Democratic Party received much support from the rural areas specifically because they promoted the expansion and protection of the nation's agricultural sector, which was in contrast to the Republican Party's moderate position and the Union Party's pro-industry position. Additionally, the Democratic Party's social views favored racial minorities and immigrants despite its overall conservative slant, thus earning the support of minority groups such as Canadian Americans, African Americans, and Caribbean Americans. Even so, the Democratic Party never managed to grasp an outright majority with any particular group due to the other political parties [which offered alternative choices for voters]).
However, the biggest obstacle for Hamilton was one Squire Boone, who was a House Representative from Kentucky and the Frontier Party's nominee. The Frontier Party aligned itself with the Union Party in Congress. However, there were no written rules to stop the party from nominating its own candidate and attempting to seize the presidency for themselves. With the public wavering on the Republican Party, the Frontier Party grasped their opportunity to make it into the White House themselves, or at the very least, force one of the other parties to negotiate with their party and form a coalition government. Thus, "the Front" nominated Squire Boone, Daniel Boone's younger brother. Daniel Boone was the first governor of Kentucky and was immensely popular during his time as the state's executive (to this day, he is credited as the "Father of Kentucky"). When Squire decided to enter the political arena himself, he was already well-connected and well-liked within his home state. Thus, he easily sailed into the House in 1796 and assumed an influential position in the Frontier Party within a few years. Known to be a frontiersman and a down-to-earth person, the public, especially those in the western states, adored Squire. The common people were able to relate to him more easily than the other "upper class" candidates (Bryan and Hamilton were both very well-off and lived comfortable lifestyles). Not only that, but Squire himself was one of the first settlers in Kentucky and personally defended the territory from Native American attacks before it was even recognized as a territorial extension of Virginia. Promising to defend settlers in the west from Sioux attacks and proclaiming himself as the champion of the common man, Squire entered the 1804 presidential race as a serious candidate. Squire opted to focus more on the western states and the southern states, thus most of his debates with the other candidates were through letters and newspapers. Even if he failed to make a showing in New England or Canada, he was set to win the western states and some of the southern states in a landslide. There was no doubt within the Frontier Party's ranks that this would allow them to play a critical role in the upcoming election.
While the Union Party was outraged at the "betrayal" of the Frontier Party, they were forced to treat the new contender seriously. The Union Party's leadership suspected that the Frontier Party would attempt to nominate a presidential candidate for themselves. As such, the emergence of Squire Boone as a leading candidate was not a complete surprise. However, this would lead to the relations between the two parties to sour and the surprise coalition between the Frontier Party and the Democratic Party in the 1820 Presidential Elections. The 1820 elections would reshape American politics and send Joseph Crockett into the White House...
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When November 6th rolled around, the public voted for one of the three presidential candidates in the running: Hamilton, Bryan, or Squire. While the 1788 Presidential Elections was the first election to have multiple candidates from different parties, the 1804 Presidential Elections was the first election where all the candidates in the running were legitimate contenders. There were 240 Electoral Votes up in the air, which meant that a candidate needed at least 121 Electoral Votes to become the next president of the United States. As expected, Squire swept the west and garnered votes in the south. Meanwhile, Bryan earned the majority of the southern Electoral Votes and a handful of the northern ones. Hamilton won an outright victory in the northern states and snared a few southern Electoral Votes as well, but in the end, it was clear that none of the candidates had an outright majority needed to win the presidency.
240 Electoral Votes in total, 121 Electoral Votes to win.
Candidate: Alexander Hamilton Samuel Bryan Squire Boone Political Party: Union Party Republican Party Frontier Party Electoral Votes: 100 78 62
When the votes were counted and announced on November 30th, the "Coalition Rule" came into effect. Within thirty days, the candidates were required to form a "coalition government" in order to win the presidency, or the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. This was the first time this rule was implemented, which caused a bit of panic and chaos across the nation. However, within two week's time, a coalition government was declared between Squire and Hamilton. Squire saw the Union Party as the better party to ally in terms of popularity and support. Additionally, the historic ties between the two parties were not forgotten by Squire and he immediately sought out Hamilton when the initial results were announced. Of course, Squire's support required Hamilton to make concessions. The most notable ones were as followed:
1) Hamilton was to resolve the "Sioux Problem" by diplomacy... or by force. The Sioux Indians were deterring settlers from pushing into the Wisconsin and Missouri Territories. Even though those territories were relatively safe compared to the border territory of Anikegama, the fear of a potential Indian raid was prevalent and thus, many settlers avoided those territories. This fear intensified when a group of Sioux warriors managed to penetrate through America's borders and raided several settlements in the Wisconsin Territory.
2) Hamilton was to allow several qualified Front members to become members of his administration's cabinet.
3) Hamilton was to play hardball against Spain and secure the remainders of the Louisiana Territory for settlement. This was in conjunction with the first term. Since the Free Sioux Nation was based within Spanish territory, they would be forced to flee elsewhere or fight against the American forces directly if the United States acquired the rest of the Louisiana Territory. This was also a major policy of the Frontier Party, which wanted more land expansions for settlers (since most of the territories within the United States were being organized or admitted as states).
4) Hamilton was to expand the upcoming railroad and telegraph to the west as fast as possible (for ease of communication and transportation).
5) Hamilton was to focus on the agricultural sector more than the norm of the Union Party.
6) Hamilton was to prioritize domestic issues over foreign ones.
7) Hamilton was to appoint a Frontier Party member as vice president if he is elected to a second term.
These conditions were things that Hamilton could live with and so, on December 17th of 1804, Squire Boone conceded his electoral votes to his Unionist counterpart. Alexander Hamilton was declared the victor of the 1804 Presidential Elections and was sworn in months after. The Fourth President of the United States was elected under unusual circumstances, but even so, the republic managed to hum along without major riots or protests (which were about to destroy the State of France across the Atlantic).
The 1804 elections did have a fair amount of controversy. Samuel Bryan cried foul over the fact that the two parties conspired with one another to secure the White House and refused to even discuss terms with him. He (unsuccessfully) attempted to sue the two candidates over the issue. Some of Squire's voters felt bitter that the Kentucky Representative willingly conceded the elections and handed the presidency to a "rich, spoiled aristocrat from New York" (which was the general view of many in the west). However, the end results were accepted as legitimate and the few that were frustrated by the sudden turn of events were unable to deny Hamilton's ascendancy. Due to the murmurs of unrest, Hamilton began his term with his promised reforms and moved quickly to prove that he belonged in the White House. Additionally, he worked relentlessly to rally the people in the west by carrying out the guarantees he made to Squire. By doing so, he would play a critical role in shaping America's destiny in the 19th century and lay down the foundations for the Louisiana Purchase and Pax Americana...
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List of American Presidents:
1780-1788 Samuel Kim (Independent)
1788-1796 Thomas Jefferson (Republican)
1796-1804 James Madison (Republican)
1804-? Alexander Hamilton (Unionist-Front)