Class on Jan 10th

I want to start by saying how proud I am of all of you with the questions that you wrote in reference to 'We Shall Remain'.  They were excellent questions! 

I also wanted to correct and clarify my comments about the Presidential pollitical parties.  I stated that the President from the time of Andrew Jackson to Lincoln was Democratic and that was not accurate.  There were a couple of exceptions that I will explain below.  It was true, however, that the Democratic party beginning with Jefferson, and strengthened by the popularity of Jackson with the general public had developed a strategy for winning the Executive office that was almost unstoppable.  This strategy consisted of keeping the southern states together and behind the same candidate as one voting block and pursuing an alliance with the northern Democrats (usually in NY and often with the selection of a northern V.P.) to gain the number of electoral votes necessary to win the election.

The first exception was William Henry Harrison (he was a Whig) in the election of 1840.  Martin Van Buren was running for re-election (remember he was Jackson's Vice President and was elected after Jackson's second term).  Jackson's 'war on the banks' set in motion a national economic depression for which Van Buren  suffered the consequences.  It was this depression which lost the Democrats the election.  Harrison won the election based on his military career as a general at the Battle of Tippecanoe and in the War of 1812.  He died after only one month in office and thus his Vice President, John Tyler, became the second Whig President, finishing Harrison's office.

James K. Polk (Democrat) was elected the next election after Tyler.  He ran on the idea of expansion (Manifest Destiny) and brought about the Mexican American War in pursuit of making this a nation that spanned from 'sea to shining sea'.  Polk had promised to serve only one term and kept that promise.  His one fear was that the Mexican American War would provide a platform for another Whig military hero President.  He allowed the Mexican War to go on longer than necessary in his efforts to keep from creating such a hero, but it was to no avail.  Zachary Taylor who did indeed become such a hero was elected President in 1848.  He too died in office just after his first year (Whig Presidents did not have much success in keeping their office it seemed) and his Vice President, Millard Fillmore, also a Whig, finished out his term.

Here is a list of Presidents and their political parties for your reference:

George Washington (no party) 2 terms
John Adams (Federalist) 1 term
Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) 2 terms
James Madison (Democratic Republican) 2 terms    
 James Monroe (Democratic Repulican) 2 terms
John Quincy Adams (Democratic Republican, but his ideas were seen as more Federalist) 1 term
Andrew Jackson (Democrat) 2 terms
Martin Van Buren (Democrat) 1 term -- economic depression
William Henry Harrison (Whig) - 1 month -- military hero
John Tyler (Whig) 1 term (finished out Harrison's term)
James K. Polk (Democrat) 1 term (he did not run for re-election)
Zachary Taylor (Whig) - just over one year -- military hero
Millard Fillmore (Whig) 1 term (finished out Taylor's term)
Franklin Pierce (Democrat) 1 term
James Buchanan (Democrat) 1 term
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 1 term -- assassinated

The Democratic-Republican Presidents are known as 'The Jeffersonians'.  The Democrats are known as 'Jacksonians'.