Flip through any old calendar and you’ll find something important that happened during the year. You might even construct a case that it was a watershed year, a turning point or crossroads in time. For John Bicknell, that year was 1844. The date will leave many scratching their heads, but he makes an interesting case for the importance of the 1844 presidential election. If Henry Clay had won that year, the U.S. might never have annexed Texas, gone to war with Mexico, admitted California to the Union or encouraged westward settlement, leading to a possibility that the Civil War might have been averted. It’s a string of what ifs and maybes, but Bicknell writes entertainingly and knowledgably, bringing to life many half-forgotten episodes from early American history.
