Carried on the Shoulders of America’s Youth Vote.
Kentucky Congressman Cassius Clay was famous not only for surviving assassination, but for fighting back and killing his attackers. Despite Clay’s courage, his Party was decimated in 1856. The Republican’s rivals in northeastern cities employed gangs to help win elections. Without a “ground game” like the fire brigades that rallied and intimidated voters for other parties, the upstart Republicans were on the verge of dissolving into a liberal faction of the moribund Whig Party. The dramatic stories surrounding Clay’s dangerous speaking tours reveal just how much of an underdog and punching bag the Republicans were in 1860. The eyes of the nation turned to the first gubernatorial election of the year as an augur, framed as a preview for November. The early Spring Governor’s race in Connecticut saw a popular war hero Democrat expected to win easily. Clay agreed to travel to Hartford and kick off the Republican’s long-shot campaign.