1856 United States Presidential Election

1852 Presidential Election - 1860 Presidential Election

Results
1856 was a crowded election year, and a highly influential one. Henry Clay died in his second term, allowing Mary Davies to succeed him and become the first woman President. The Whig party faced deep divisions before the 1848 election, and Henry Clay was considered the reason as to why it stayed functioning, but when he died the party had divided and collapsed due to internal debates. Many Whigs became independents or Democrats, while most of them created the Republican party. This makes Davies not only the first woman President, but also the last Whig and first Republican President. Davies campaigned on expanding civil rights and woman's suffrage across the nation, however she did face notable opposition in the primaries, but her progressive coalition allowed her a path to nomination. In a crowded Democrat primary, businessman Scott Drend emerged as the dark horse candidate, his message being primarily industrial and economic as opposed to the social issues other Democrats and Davies made hay of. Drend made very little comment of civil rights or woman's suffrage, despite being a hot button issue of the day, as he attempted to build a coalition of conservative Whigs and labor workers to take over the mid west, which has been mostly Whig controlled prior to Clay's death. Despite the times, Davies did fairly well in the general, but Drend managed to win by reaching out to disenfranchised Whigs and the labor force. This election caused some controversy, as a small group in Tennessee associated with Brosnahan, a Davies supporter, attempted to secede the state from the country. The Tennessee government declined, and the rebellion was captured, with many of their members being executed as Brosnahan fled the country. After the rebellion was eliminated, President Davies was found to have died by gunshot wound, thus immediately starting Drend's Presidency. This was initially thought to have been a suicide, however it was later theorized that she was assassinated by Russian espionage to sew division and civil unrest. President Drend ordered an investigation into the Russian government, leading to a short lived conflict between the two countries.