Mech's "Alternate Presidential Elections" TL.

[Mechaman]

The Second Term of President Henry Clay:

At the age of 71 on the Inauguration Day of his second term, Henry Clay would thus become the oldest person (beating himself on his first inauguration) to be sworn in as president.  On Inauguration Day he would appear to have very youthful energy for a man of his age.  However, it would be the second term of Henry Clay when the cruel hand of fate would finally show itself.
The first of these events was the yet unhandled question of Texas.  In his first term Clay's approach was to avoid any and all possible conflict with Mexico, even if it meant refusing calls to annex Texas.  However, in the beginning of his second term the question of Texas would inevitably come back to haunt him.  In May 1847, after a series of border disputes in the previous two years that resulted in a small scale war (dubbed the "Texas-Mexico War"), the disputed border between Mexico and Texas had finally been settled at the Rio Grande.  Although Mexico appeared to have the upper hand in the war, Texas managed to defend it's borders in the "rematch" between the two nations and a final peace treaty between Mexico and Texas was signed at San Antonio.  However, even with the respect of it's mother nation finally won, the Republic of Texas found itself struggling financially due to the aftereffects of the war.  Many Texan citizens feared that in a few years, barring annexation from the US, the Texas government would collapse and Mexico would take that opportunity to take back Texas.
However, President Clay saw no value in admitting Texas as a state, neither did his Whig colleagues who controlled Congress.  The public, having long supported the Annexation of Texas, began to turn against the Whig Leadership.
Another issue, also related to US expansion, was the infamous Oregon Dispute.  Although Clay had opposed plans like the "54 or Fight!", he did not put much focus on settling the Oregon dispute in his first term, instead focusing on developing infrastracture in already developed lands under legitimate American control.  The Democrats, who began to adopt the policies of Manifest Destiny, wanted all disputed lands up to the 54"40"N latitude marker.  Clay himself, although originally opposed to such "meaningless notions", couldn't shake off the promises of more public lands for sell to fund his American System.  So on November 11th, 1849, the US Government ended up settling a compromise with the British Government, which also made extreme claims to territory (wanting to have all disputed lands down to the 42"N latitude) to settle the disputed territory at the 49"N latitude marker, which also happened to be the borderline between then Rupert's land and the so-called "Unorganized Territory" of the United States.  Although Clay got the bill passed Congress it would end up angering many people on both sides of the aisles.  It would upset pro-slavery supporters who saw this as an attempt to give even more power to the anti-slave movement (although Clay himself admitted great apathy on the issue as President) who pointed out the opposition the Clay Administration had to the Annexation of Texas.
As a result Clay's popularity would steadily go down from the all time high he enjoyed by the Election of 1848.  By the day people would rally behind the Democratic Party who, despite conflicts over issues such as slavery, were united behind the cause of Manifest Destiny, of uniting the American continent under American rule.
As a result, the 1850 Congressional Elections would be a shocker to the Whig leadership as overnight the Whigs would go from holding a commanding majority to a 43% minority in the House and a 7 seat majority in the Senate to only a 2 seat majority.  However, the worst was yet to come.......

The Death of America's Politician:

A majority of Henry Clay's life was dedicated to public service, as a multi-time Speaker of the House as well as US Senator he had become almost the definition of "public servant" in the 40+ year political career he had amassed in Washington.  Politics had become his life, and it would become his death.
Throughout his years, Henry Clay had never faced as much stress, mostly exacerbated by his old age, as he did as president.  The stresses of the first two years of his second term, including the ultimate loss of Whig power in the House of Representatives, would ultimately prove to be too much for even him to handle.
And so it was that on July 18th, 1851 that Henry Clay would become the first US President to have died in office at the age of 74.  Due to his momentuous reputation and the wide respect given to him from the American people, Congress ordered that his funeral be held "lying in state", thus making him the first person in American history for whom a state funeral was held.  His Vice President, Theodore Frelinghuysen would succeed him.

The Term of President Theodore Frelinghuysen:

The term of Theodore Frelinghuysen would become known as some of the most chaotic tenures in history.  Like his predecessor he also opposed the Annexation of Texas, however, unlike Clay Frelinghuysen would not stay quiet on the slavery issue, calling it "a great evil that must be done away with, and if that means opposing the Annexation of Texas then so be it".  His uncompromising stance would put him in hot water even with his own party.  And to make matters worse, the country was about to enter another period of financial instability known as the Panic of 1852.

The Election of 1852:

As a result, the party would encounter a great schism within their own ranks as enough pro-slavery Whig delegates were able to deny Frelinghuysen the nomination for President.  Instead, the Convention would end up nominating long time Whig leader Daniel Webster, a close colleague and friend of Henry Clay's, to the presidency and New York Representative Milliard Fillmore (a leading figure amongst the Whig Party's nativist wing) as Vice President.  Many would consider the aging Webster, who was 70 years at the National Convention, to be the only man who could fix the fracturing of the party by the conflict between the anti and pro slavery wings.  The Democratic National Convention, however, would be called by many as "ecstatic.  The Democratic Party of 1848 would be irreconizable by this one, this Democratic Party that seems as though to be ready to take these United States of America into yet another Golden Age of Jacksonian Democracy and Manifest Destiny."  The Democratic National Convention would nominate a young US Senator from Illinois, the charismatic 39 year old Stephen A. Douglas, as their presidential nominee and John B. Weller, the former territorial governor of California, as the vice presidential nominee.  The Democratic ticket, in stark contrast to the Whig ticket, would be the youngest presidential ticket in history up to that point.
During the campaign, the Territory of California would pass the US Constitution in it's state legislature making California the newest US State (On June 8th, 1852 to be exact).  The Democrats would jump on this opportunity, claiming to be for the "complete and total unity of all the American people who roam these territories the right of equality with those who live in the states" and that "decency and morality dictates that the American people not let the Texan civilization die and unite them to us as one body dedicated to freedom and liberty".  Also, the Panic of 1852, which many blamed on retalitory tariffs levied against the US by it's trading partners in response to Clay's high protectionary tariff, would lay heavily on people's minds as the Democrats began campaigning on the low tariff "for revenue only".
Althroughout the election season many were predicting that the Democratic ticket would handidly win the election, however it wouldn't be until October 24th, 1852 before things truly went to hell for the Whig Party.  For on that day, after falling off of his horse after campaigning in Philadelphia that resulted in a crushing blow to the head brought on by complications of cirrhosis of the liver, Daniel Webster would die from a cerebral hemorrhage.  The Whig Party, within the span of a year, had lost it's two greatest leaders, men who history would hold on the same level as that of Alexander Hamilton in advancing the American System.  And now, it seemed as all hope was lost......
Milliard Fillmore would step up to the plate to take over as the presidential nominee and he would choose US Senator John Bell to succeed him as the Vice Presidential nominee.
The end result would be a landslide of the kind not seen since the Era of Good Feelings:

Senator Stephen A. Douglas (Illinois)/Former Territorial Governor John B. Weller (California) Democratic Party 60.82% pv 287 evs
Representative Milliard Fillmore (New York)/US Senator John Bell (Tennessee) Whig Party 38.11% pv 5 evs
Other: 1.07% pv 0 evs