16. One of the most senior military commanders throughout the first half the nineteenth century, Winfield Scott repeatedly sought the Republican nomination only to squander the opportunity in 1852
An American military commander, serving as a general in the United States Army from 1814 until retirement in 1861, for the last twenty years of his career Winfield Scott held the honorable position of the Commanding General of the United States Army. Becoming the first Army officer since George Washington to hold the rank of lieutenant general, in his later life Scott sought to enter the realm of politics. Joining the Whig Party in the mid-1830s, Scott unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination in three consecutive presidential election cycles – 1840, 1844, 1848 – before finally garnering their approval on the fourth attempt in 1852.
Divided heavily over the Compromise of 1850, the Whigs were split between incumbent President Fillmore, Secretary of State Webster, and General Scott. Failing to decide upon a candidate on the first fifty-two ballots, Scott eventually emerged victorious on the fifty-third attempt. Endorsing a pro-Compromise platform, Scott immediately alienated a significant portion of his own party. Competing against his former subordinate during the Mexican-American War, Franklin Pierce, it quickly became clear Scott was a poor campaigner and politician. Despite not having held office for ten years, the dark-horse Democratic nominee triumphed, with Scott winning just five states to Pierce’s twenty-seven.