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Thanks, But No Thanks: Silas Wright, Part III

© John S. Cooper

Wright had easily won re-election to his Senate seat in 1837, and was up for re-election in 1843. He only agreed to stand for re-election when he was convinced the vacuum caused by his refusal might split the party and allow a Whig to win the seat. He reluctantly agreed to run, and won another term. As the political battles between Tyler and the Whigs became more acrimonious, Tyler tried to mend fences with the Democrats to gain their support. One such effort was the offer of a seat on the Supreme Court to Senator Wright. The play for favor with the Democrats was painfully obvious, and even though Wright was tempted to accept, he again declined to accept a major office.

Wright opposed the annexation of Texas, because he did not want to see any more slave states enter the Union. Even though it might jeopardize Van Buren’s chances for the Democratic presidential nomination, Wright counseled him to stand firmly against the annexation of Texas, the primary issue in 1844. Van Buren started the convention with a majority of delegate votes, but a two-thirds majority was required to secure the nomination. It became clear after a number of ballots that Van Buren would not achieve a two-thirds majority.

Van Buren had given a friend who was a delegate to the convention a letter to be used in the event of a deadlock. The letter contained Van Buren’s withdrawal from the race, and his request that his supporters vote for Silas Wright for president. Wright stubbornly refused to accept any such plan. He did not want the presidency, nor did Wright want to risk any appearance of being involved in a conspiracy to defeat Van Buren so he could gain the nomination.

James K. Polk, a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and governor of Tennessee, finally won the democratic presidential nomination. Silas Wright easily won the vice presidential nomination. Wright learned of his victory by a new invention, the telegraph. He immediately wired back his refusal of the nomination. A series of telegraphs were exchanged, but Wright maintained his refusal to accept, and the nomination was given to George Dallas of Pennsylvania.

Being perceived as turning down both the presidential nomination and the vice presidential nomination out of a matter of integrity and loyalty to his personal and political friend Van Buren only made Wright more popular than ever. This brought incredible pressure on Wright to run for governor of New York, a position he had previously declined. Even his close friend Van Buren argued that Wright should run. Van Buren pointed out that Wright’s refusal to run might reflect poorly on Polk. Wright’s presence on the ticket would help Polk carry New York. Wright still asked his supporters not to nominate him, but he won the nomination anyway. Wright was not exactly happy about winning the nomination, and secretly hoped that he would lose the general election to the Whig candidate, Millar Fillmore. On winning this nomination, Wright said “never has any incident in my public life been so much against my feelings and judgment.” To his great surprise and disappointment, Wright defeated Fillmore and became governor of New York. He won with just 50.5% of the vote.

Silas Wright

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