1844 Democratic National Convention

The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee for president and former Senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for vice president.

Though his opposition to the annexation of Texas cost him support with expansionists and Southerners, former President Martin Van Buren entered the convention with the backing of a majority of the delegates. Before presidential balloting commenced, the convention voted to reinstate a rule requiring the presidential nominee to win two-thirds of the vote. On the first presidential ballot, Van Buren won a majority, but fell short of a two-thirds requirement. As the balloting continued, Van Buren continually lost support to former Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan, Van Buren's former Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky, and Senator James Buchanan of Pennsylvania.

Though he had entered the convention hoping to be nominated for vice president, Polk had the strong support of former President Andrew Jackson and was acceptable to the different factions of the party. He won the nomination on the ninth presidential ballot, thus becoming the first dark horse candidate to win a major party's presidential nomination. After Senator Silas Wright of New York declined the vice presidential nomination, the convention selected Dallas as Polk's running mate. The Democratic ticket went on to win the 1844 presidential election.

This convention had the distinction of seeing three consecutive vice presidents seeking the presidential nomination that of John C. Calhoun, Van Buren and Johnson, none of whom were successful.

Proceedings
At the outset of the convention, the leading contender was former President Martin Van Buren of New York, who had been defeated in the 1840 election. His principal opponent was Lewis Cass of Michigan, who had served as United States Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson. The annexation of Texas was a major issue. Van Buren publicly opposed immediate annexation because it might lead to a sectional crisis over the status of slavery in the West. This position cost Van Buren the support of Southern and expansionist Democrats, but he believed that backing annexation would cost him the support of his fellow New Yorkers and other Northeasterners.

Van Buren's supporters arrived at the convention with a majority of the delegates pledged to support him on the first ballot. Cass, meanwhile, had support from a handful of Southern states, but far fewer delegates pledged to him. At the previous convention, in 1840, a majority of votes had been sufficient to secure the nomination, but this had been a departure from the party's previous rule requiring a two-thirds majority.

Early in the proceedings, Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, in cooperation with Senator (and future president) James Buchanan of Pennsylvania called for reinstatement of the 1832 and 1835 convention rule requiring the nominee to win two-thirds of the votes. Following a historical pattern in which a minority faction of Northern Democrats delivered votes to produce southern wing victories for pro-slavery legislation, the Van Burenite delegates split over the pivotal vote. Fully one-third of the pro-Van Buren delegates (52 of 154) voted to reinstate the two-thirds rule, along with 90 of 104 anti-Van Buren delegates, producing a final vote of 148 to 116. The rule would remain in place until the 1936 Democratic National Convention, when it was revoked by supporters of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In popular culture
The basic events of the convention are outlined in the song "James K. Polk" by the rock band They Might Be Giants.