Lewis Cass
Michigan senator and 1848 Democratic nominee who popularized popular sovereignty.
Overview
Cass was governor of Michigan Territory, Secretary of War under Jackson, minister to France, Senator from 1845 to 1848 and 1849 to 1857, and Secretary of State under Buchanan. His doctrine of popular sovereignty, letting territorial settlers decide on slavery, became the Democratic answer to the sectional question and the basis of the 1850 compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Nominated for president in 1848, he lost to Zachary Taylor as the Free Soil Party split the Democratic vote. He later sought the 1860 nomination and endorsed Stephen Douglas to save the Union.
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