The Whig National Convention was called to meet at Harrisburg on the 4th of December, 1839, just one year before the Presidential election, and no national convention in the history of our politics ever moved with such extreme caution. It was three days after the convention was organized before a ballot was reached for President, the whole time having been occupied in formal conferences of committees appointed by each delegation to confer in the frankest way as to the best ticket to unite the incongruous opposition elements. Clay had made exhaustive effort to unite the opposition, even if necessary to sacrifice himself. On repeated occasions he publicly declared that his name should not be entertained if it was in any degree an obstacle to success, and in a Buffalo address delivered some time before the convention met, he said: “If my name creates any obstacle to union and harmony, away with it, and concentrate upon some individual more acceptable to all branches of the office.” A Union Pennsylvania convention had been held in Harrisburg in September, embracing representatives of the old National Republicans, anti-Masons, and Whigs. It was largely planned and carried out by Thaddeus Stevens, whose violent anti-Masonic convictions made him the opponent of Clay, and that convention, while highly complimenting Clay, declared that General Harrison was the most available of all the candidates named for President. Governor Barbour, of Virginia, presided over the national convention, and instead of proceeding to ballot for candidates, the convention, after careful consideration, decided that the delegations from the different States should confer with each other, through sub-committees, and if possible reach a conclusion as to the best nomination and report to the convention. While there is no official record of the action of these committees, it is known that at the start more favored Clay than any of the two other candidates, as one of the known facts relating to their action gave Clay 103 votes to 94 for Harrison and 57 for Scott. This vote is based on the assumption that the entire delegation of each State would vote in harmony with its committee, as the resolution under which the committees were appointed provided that “each State represented shall vote its full electoral vote by such delegation in the committee.” After three days of conference, the joint committees reported to the convention that they had decided in favor of Harrison by a vote of 148 to 90 for Clay and 16 for Scott.