Maine has never had a statesman occupy the oval office in the entirety of its 189 years of existence.  While states like Virginia and New York have churned out an impressive army of Chief Executives, the Pine Tree State has not contributed anyone.

However, that is not to say that it couldn’t have.  Throughout its history, Maine has actually had a remarkable host of men who have almost become President, but for one reason or another never made it all the way.

Maine’s failure to elect someone to the White House is not a matter of it being a “small” state.  Indeed, for much of its early history, Maine was an electoral force.  Take, for example, the election of 1828, in which Maine had 9 electoral votes, while Illinois had 3, Missouri had 3, Indiana had 5 and New Jersey had 8.  For those of you keeping score at home, today Maine has 4, Illinois has 21, Missouri has 11, Indiana has 11 and New Jersey has 15.

So, believe it or not, for a good chunk of its history, Maine was a more important state than some of today’s most fought over territory.  Believe it or not, when Abraham Lincoln was first elected President, Maine was a more important state (8 electoral votes) than California (4).

It was also a factory for powerful Republicans of national importance, something that made voters continually look north for leadership.  As time went by and the nature of the state turned more blue, once again Maine was fertile ground for men of consequence.

Yet, despite this focus, the state was unable to close the sale.  In the next week, we will take a look at four men who could have taken the oath of office, but never had a chance to.

First up?  Hannibal Hamlin.

How it could have happened – Hamlin holds a special place in my heart – I grew up in Hampden, Maine where Hamlin settled down and began practicing law in the 1830s.  In fact, “Hannibal Hamlin Place”, where my favorite pizzeria “Pizza Gormet” lives, just happened to be a quarter mile down the road from where I called home.

So who was Hamlin?

Hamlin remains to this day the Maine politician who has risen the highest in the United States Government – to the position of vice president.

He worked his way up in politics, from a Representatives in the Maine House, to being elected to Congress, to filling a US Senate post from Maine.  A staunch opponent to the expansion of slavery, Hamlin left the Democratic Party for the Republicans over the Democratic stance on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and immediately became known nationally as a result.

Due partly to the fact that Maine was the first state in the northeast to throw its support behind the fledgling Republican Party, and the Republican desire to consolidate northern support, he was selected (over, believe it or not, a man named Cassius Clay of Kentucky) to be Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President.

Which of course brings us to his potential elevation to the presidency.

For the 1864 presidential election, Abraham Lincoln decided to forgo running as a Republican, instead forming a new party called the “National Union“, which consisted of mostly Republicans and northern, anti-confederate Democrats.  This was a move to broaden Lincoln’s base of support, as he greatly feared being defeated in his re-election – something he felt would be disastrous for the prosecution (and eventual end) of the Civil War.

Because the National Union Party was looking for ideological and regional balance (and Hamlin was allied with the northern, radical wing of the Republican Party which had been clashing with the president), Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was selected, and Vice President Hamlin was shown the door.

Had Hamlin remained on the ticket and been part of a victorious re-election campaign with Lincoln, on April 14th 1865 it would have been he who was given the news of the assassination of President Lincoln, and it would have been he who ascended to the presidency.

What a Hamlin Administration would have looked like – Andrew Johnson proved to be a disaster.  In the post-war Reconstruction period, he clashed so dramatically with the Radical Republican led Congress, that he was eventually impeached, only narrowly escaping removal from office.

Hannibal Hamlin returned to the Senate after he was dropped from Lincoln’s re-election ticket.  He proved in his time there that he was firmly allied with the radicals, in contrast to Johnson who bitterly fought with them, especially over the Reconstruction Act of 1867.

Were Hamlin president, not only would he not have been impeached, but he would have in fact been a firm ally of the Radical Republicans as they pushed hard for harsher policies in the south, more protections for the newly freed blacks, and heavy anti-confederate policies.

While the radicals had an ally in the White House only a few years later in President Ulysses S. Grant, having a virtual rubber stamp from Hamlin rather than the bitterly divisive fights with Johnson would have easily pressed through the radical’s reconstruction agenda.

Had this happened, it seems likely that Hamlin could have potentially run for a second term and continued to press a firm hand in reconstruction.  He would have likely been remembered as a great president who pushed for civil rights and protections for the newly freed blacks in the south – a great legacy to be remembered for.

Instead, we had an unelected president who vetoed legislation intended to give citizenship to blacks, or protect their civil rights.  Perhaps Hamlin would not have been a transcendentally imposing force on history, but few can doubt his tenure would have been a significant change – and probably in a positive direction.

Next up:  James G. Blaine

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