Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism ...

letter to New York delegate John Fine, declining the presidential nomination should the need arise. Polk, because of Cave Johnson's reconnaissance work, likely already suspected that something like that would occur. Rounding the last curve, Polk headed into the final stretch.¹⁹

In the moments before the balloting got under way the next morning, Butler gave his support to Polk purportedly because he “had not been a party to the conspiracies and plots by which we [Van Buren men] had been destroyed.” New Hampshire was the second state called in the roll, and Hubbard, who was also the chair of the state's delegation, announced that its six votes were for Polk. Bancroft then announced that seven of Massachusetts’ twelve votes were for Polk. When the balloting made its way around to the southern states, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana joined the New Englanders in voting for Polk. By the end of the eighth ballot, Polk had 44 votes. Most of the delegates in the hall realized that if Polk swung the remaining Van Buren delegates, the nomination was his. On the fateful ninth ballot, 19 of Pennsylvania's 26 delegates supported Polk. While the New Yorkers were squabbling outside the hall about how to appropriately withdraw Van Buren's name in favor of Polk, Virginia announced that its 17 votes would move from Cass to Polk. On that news, the New York delegation returned, at which point Butler interrupted the proceedings, joked with William Roane of Virginia (“He always knew that New York and Virginia would ultimately be found fighting side by side”), withdrew Van Buren's name, and announced his support of Polk. Of the 35 remaining delegates from New York, 34 joined Butler and “started the stampede.” When Polk garnered 231 of the 266 delegates in the balloting, the 29 who had previously voted for Cass shifted their support to Polk for the sake of unity. Hence, Polk was only a “dark horse” because the other aspirants (and their delegates), like the “careless St. James” in Disraeli's novel, had “never even observed [him] in the list.”²⁰

Reflecting on Polk's nomination, Borneman aptly summarized the more general lessons of his ascent, providing its connection to this research: