1844, that was the contest of neighboring pols. Clay from KY and Polk from TN. Tennessee was marginally a Whig state and so it voted for Clay over its Governor, Polk. Had 3rd party candidate Birney got out and endorsed the Whig ticket, NY state would’ve put Clay over the top. Birney, ironically, was a KY native who formerly had worked for Clay.
Polk was one of the very few RAT Presidents that wasn’t total shite, but I wonder what kind of President Clay would have been.
KY and TN were good voting states, voted Whig until 1856. Ky, the #1 Whig/proto-whig state outside of New England even opposed Andrew Jackson. Such a shame it went RAT later on.