This year we have a choice between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Many people are not pleased with that choice. It's either a choice between "the lesser evil" or which of the two less than ideal choices sucks the least. I once had a bright engineering student in undergraduate school tell me that, "The two major parties always pick great candidates." Anyone who has studied history knows that's not true. Here are my picks for when the choices were really lousy with some political items to help make it "come to life." Part 1, 1856 The 1856 presidential election marked the first time the brand new Republican Party fielded its first candidate, John C. Fremont. On the surface Fremont seemed like a good choice. His nickname was "The Pathfinder" because he had been a noted exporter. The trouble was Fremont also had bad judgement. He had a bad habit of going into uncharted territories at the beginning of winter. That almost got him and his team killed on at least two occasions. Later, he would prove to be a failed Civil War general, who had trouble taking orders from his boss, Abraham Lincoln. On the plus side, he was opposed to slavery and advocated abolition. The trouble was, his political timing was off. It is possible to advocate the right thing at the wrong time. If it fails or ends up in a defeat, the situation can actually become worse. Here are some Fremont tokens that were issued during his presidential run. This beautiful piece emphasized Fremont's status as an explorer. That's the U.S. Capitol in the background. This one emphasized Fremont's call for the end of slavery as directly as he could dare. "Free labor" and "free soil" were anti-slavery messages. The phrase, "Jessie's choice," refers to Fremont's wife, Jesse Hart Fremont, who was the daughter of the powerful Senator, Thomas Hart Benton. She had the better judgement of the two, and often kept the family from going underwater financially. Fremont was not good with money. This marked the first time that the name of a potential First Lady appeared on a political piece. The dies for this large piece (60 mm) were cut by Anthony Pacquet, who made many medal dies for the Philadelphia Mint in the mid 19th century. Pacquet got into trouble when he tired to made dies for coins. "The Rocky Mountains echo back Fremont," refer to the Fremont's explorations of the region. Fremont's main opponent was James Buchanan. Buchanan had been running for president for a long time. He had up for the nomination in 1844, '48 and '52. He had long resume of offices held including Congressman, Senator, ambassador and Secretary of State. Unfortunately that met nothing. He was a Democratic Party hack whose time had come. Everyone knew that the Union was in trouble. Therefore, holding it together was a central issue in the campaign. large piece (60 mm) was also a Pacquet creation. It shows the names of the then 31 states and the Jackson quote, "The Union must and shall be preserved." One has to chuckle at the this which features the slogan, "The crisis demands his election." Historians now rate Buchanan as the worst president in history. Buchanan's low standing in history translates to so lower than expected political items prices, but this piece is the exception. This is the rare "Buck - cannon" rebus medalet. There are fewer than 15 of these known in copper and perhaps a similar or smaller number in white metal. There was a third party candidate, former president Millard Fillmore. Fillmore had become president after Zachary Taylor died in office in 1850. He is best remembered for the Compromise of 1850 which is best remembered for the Fugitive Slave law. It require Northern law enforcement authorities to track down and turn in runaway slaves. To be fair to Fillmore, he was dealing with an impossible political situation. Without the abolition of slavery, there was no solution to the problem. Fillmore was the candidate of the anti-immigrant American or "Know Nothing" Party. It had been very strong in the off-year 1854 elections, but had actually reached its peak. Fillmore probably didn't agree with their anti-immigrant message, but they offered him a path back to the White House. Here's Fillmore "Union" medalet: And his resume piece, which had the same obverse: This rare piece expressed the anti-immigrant issue most directly. The condition is not great, but I have never seen a nice example of this piece. Buchanan won the election by winning the Southern States plus his home state, Pennsylvania. Fremont won the Northern state electoral votes. Fillmore was only able to win Maryland. Buchanan did become the worst president, but the ironic fact is that the country was better off with him. If Fremont had been elected, the Civil War might have started four years earlier with him in charge instead of Lincoln. If that had been the case, the Southern states might well of won the war and become an independent nation. Fremont did not have the political ability to hold the country together as Lincoln did. His failures when he was head of the Missouri Department during the Civil War demonstrated that. Stay tuned for more election years which had only bad choices.