As President Grant seeks to protect the rights of the Freedmen, the forces of opposition inside the Democratic party zero in on his administration. In the run up to the 1872 election Grant battles his personal demons, a never ending list of political scandals, and the enemies of progress. To make good on his promise to the Freedmen, Grant goes to war with violent forces inside the Democratic party hell bent on turning back the clock on progress, and keeping the Freedmen away from the polls.

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The death of Abraham Lincoln sets the stage for one of the greatest political showdowns in American history. On one side stands President Andrew Johnson, a notorious drunk and bigot who was sympathetic to the South. On the other side, Edwin M Stanton and the Radical Republicans in Congress, who want to secure Abraham Lincoln’s legacy and protect the 4 million Freed Slaves in the South. The Reconstruction era brings with it a series of firsts: the end of the Civil War, the first president assassinated, and the first impeachment of a president in US History. In the midst of the turmoil, a beloved war hero rises to the occasion and seeks to fill the void left by President Lincoln’s murder: General Ulysses S Grant.

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While President Lincoln battles the Confederacy down South, he fights to keep the White House from the clutches of the Democratic Party. In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln faces off against a disgruntled General, a divided constituency and broken country. To win, Lincoln takes the first step towards finally confronting America’s original sin and makes the war, and the election of 1864, a referendum on a divisive political and moral issue: emancipation.

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With the nation on the brink of disunion, two Illinois politicians battle it out for the soul of the country: Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln and Democrat candidate Stephen Douglass. Lincoln’s decisive victory is bittersweet. His ascension to the White House brings with it secession, assassination plots, the formation of the Confederacy and in the end: all out Civil War.

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The issue of slavery takes a bloody turn as sectional tensions turn violent in the West. “Bloody Kansas” deprives President Pierce of his party’s nomination and leaves the door open for Democrat Candidate James Buchanan to take the reigns. With the Whig party in tatters, Buchanan faces off against two new political factions: a third party called the Know Nothings, and a brand new faction that is now known as The Republican Party.

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In the wake of President Zachary Taylor’s sudden death, Millard Fillmore signs into law the Compromise of 1850, the so called “final settlement” on the issue of slavery. But the Compromise has unintended consequences. As regional interests trump party loyalty, the second Two Party System begins to crumble giving rise to five third parties and two nearly indistinguishable candidates from both sides of the aisle: Whig candidate General Winfield Scott and Democrat candidate Franklin Pierce.

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In the wake of the Mexican-American war, the US gains two new territories: California and New Mexico. The victory over Mexico once again puts slavery at the center of the national political dialogue and it gives rise to a national hero. Whig candidate General Zachary Taylor rides his wave of popularity all the way to the White House in a victory over another war hero: Democratic Candidate Colonel Lewis Cass.

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After President Harrison passes away just one month into his term, Vice President John Tyler becomes the first accidental president in US History. While Tyler fights for the legitimacy of his presidency and sets precedents for future succession, the Whigs and Democrats fight it out on the campaign trail. Whig candidate Henry Clay and Democrat candidate James K Polk go head to head over the issue of Texas and the expansion of slavery.

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The Whigs seek to deny President Martin Van Buren a second term by taking a page out of the Republican playbook, and run a war hero candidate of their own: General William Henry Harrison; the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, a man the Whigs portray as a hero of the common man.

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As Jackson’s Vice President Martin Van Buren struggles to secure his place as Jackson’s Heir Apparent, the newly formed Whig party struggles to form a national identity. The Whigs unite against Van Buren with another political faction called the Antimasons; America’s first third party.

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