Free The Lost Gettysburg Address by David T. Dixon Page A

to
avoid either undesirable result? Their answer was to trot out
seventy-one-year-old federalist ex-governorAllen Trimble and run him under
the banner of the American or Know-Nothing Party. This was a
tainted compromise, as Anderson was a bitter opponent of this party
and their brand of racist nativism. The campaign turned nasty. Judge
Johnston was accused of secretly supporting the Democrats in a guerilla
effort to defame and defeat Chase. Chase won the governor’s
race comfortably. Trimble finished a distant third with only 8 percent
of the vote. The press had a field day at the expense of Johnston and
Anderson, claiming that their political “firm” had been forced into a
“hopelessly insolvent state of liquidation.” 3
    Although Anderson’s friends and critics had grown accustomed to
his stubborn independence in the political arena, many were shocked
when he came out in support ofJames Buchanan for president in
1856. “Old Buck” was not only a Democrat but also the man whom
many felt had impugned Henry Clay’s character. Buchanan had accusedClay of constructing a corrupt bargain to supportJohn Quincy
Adams for president in 1824, in exchange for a promise of the office
of secretary of state. The charge had since proven false, but the
former animus between Anderson’s chosen candidate and his departed
hero survived in the hearts of many ex-Whigs. The press continued
to harass Anderson for his latest and most unexpected alliance. The
Dayton Gazette compared Anderson to a boa constrictor, somehow
swallowing Buchanan after the candidate himself was compelled to
stomachPierce,Douglas, and theNebraska Bill. “What politician
ever,” the Gazette teased, so completely demonstrated “straining at a
gnat and swallowing a camel?” 4
    In his speeches and private letters, Anderson was clear that, despite
his unusual endorsement, he was no Democrat. In fact, he had sworn
off all parties for the rest of his life. Electing Buchanan was simply
the best chance that the nation had to avoid a disastrous breakup and
a possible civil war. Anderson’s logic was simple. A victory by the
Republican candidateJohn Fremont would push the country to the
brink of disunion. American Party candidateMillard Fillmore had
no chance to win in the North, as his party took no position on
slavery and had alienated recent immigrant voters. This was “no crisis
in which to exercise our suffrage as a sort of party sentimentalism,”
Anderson wrote his friend and formerWhig Orlando Brown. “I must vote and vote efficiently,” Anderson declared, “directly against disunion and everything standing that way.”
    Soon after Buchanan won, Anderson received a visit from Virginia
governorHenry A. Wise. Wise assured Anderson that he expected a
“national and more conservative” administration from the new
president than Republicans and others feared. “I may be perversely wrong
in all these hopes and opinions,” Anderson wrote to Brown in late
November 1856, “but I am as yet quite happy with any delusion if it
be delusion. I really believe the Union is now safe .” Anderson would
soon realize that he had been thinking more with his heart than his
head. He would later change his opinion and regard the defeat of
Fremont as a calamity for his beloved country. 5

CHAPTER SIX

Texas Fever
     
    C HARLES ANDERSON WAS RESTLESS . The law provided
a comfortable lifestyle, but he had always despised it. His
asthma had worsened to the point where he was confined to
his bed for weeks at a time. When he was finally forced to abandon
his profession, Anderson felt both anxious and relieved. He needed
to restore his health, find a new career, and support his young family.
Cincinnati had experienced devastating epidemics of cholera,
tuberculosis, and other diseases typical of emerging industrial cities. It was
no place for a person in his condition. He yearned for adiplomatic
post. He had alienated many former allies in his bolt to the Buchanan
camp in 1856, and he