The U.S. presidential election of 1844 pitted James Polk, who favored the immediate annexation of Texas, against Henry Clay, who favored annexation only if other conditions were met. Financial-market data from that era provide important clues about the public’s changing estimations of who would win.

Gary M. Pecquet is an assistant professor of economics at Central Michigan University.
Clifford F. Thies is the Eldon R. Lindsay Professor of Economics and Finance at Shenandoah University.
American HistoryBanking and FinanceEconomyElections and Election LawGovernment and PoliticsLaw and Liberty
Other Independent Review articles by Gary M. Pecquet
Summer 2016 Reputation Overrides Record: How Warren G. Harding Mistakenly Became the “Worst” President of the United States
Spring 2013 The Calculus of Conquests: The Decline and Fall of the Returns to Roman Expansion
Fall 2010 The Shaping of a Future President’s Economic Thought: Richard T. Ely and Woodrow Wilson at “The Hopkins”
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Other Independent Review articles by Clifford F. Thies
Spring 2023 Unintended Consequences: A Critical Review of Child Support Enforcement
Spring 2023 The Myth of American Inequality
Summer 2016 Reputation Overrides Record: How Warren G. Harding Mistakenly Became the “Worst” President of the United States
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