Election of 1864 | understandinglincoln

Heading into War...OFF the Battlefield

Leading into the spring of 1864, there was no denying the upcoming presidential election campaign season would be excruciating for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was embedded in its fourth year of the Civil War, which had proven to be the deadliest combat in American History. By the end of the war, an estimated 750,000 men would lose their lives in the line of duty (Gugliotta). Due to this conflict, America’s political parties were divided over war aims, leading to ideological divisions within both. Republicans were torn between radical factions who favored an intensive abolitionist policy, and a more conservative wing that supported the decisions of President Abraham Lincoln. The Democrats were even further divided: Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, wanted an immediate end to the conflict; Regular Democrats supported the war effort but continued to oppose the Lincoln administration; and War Democrats partook in bipartisan politics, often aligning themselves with conservative Republican philosophies (Weber). In addition, the Union army was embarking upon what was hoped to be the final military campaign of the Civil War. This “Grand Strategy” created by General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant called for attacks in both Virginia and Georgia, of which neither front experienced early success. Furthermore, Abraham Lincoln’s popularity had been on the decline since 1862, leading many to feel his re-election was, as proclaimed by the New York Herald, “the most laughable joke of all” (George 24). This lack of national support for Lincoln caused many would-be executives to throw their hats in the ring both during (and after!) the nominating conventions of 1864.

Election of 1864 Summary

The Republican Nomination(s)

The Republican Party had been experiencing division since 1862. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and his overall emancipation policies were facing stark criticism from leading Radical Republican congressmen like Winter Davis, Benjamin Wade, Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, who urged him to do more for the cause. The irony was not lost on John D. Defrees, who wrote in a letter to Wade: “Is it not a little strange that most of the opposition to Mr. Lincoln, among Union men, is to be found among the very men who were loudest in their commendations of the proclamation of freedom, as they called it?” (Burlingame 3688). When the head of the Republican National Committee, Edwin Morgan, announced in February 1864 the party was changing its name to the National Union Party and would meet in June under this new name, protest erupted. Leading Radical Republicans such as Fredrick Douglass, Wendell Phillips and Horace Greeley decided to hold a separate nominating convention – the Radical Democracy Convention - held in late May in Cleveland, Ohio (Weber). In the months leading up to the convention, names like Salmon Chase, Ulysses Grant and Benjamin Butler had been acknowledged as potential candidates. Some of these potential candidates were in no way interested; both Grant and Butler had made known their plans to stay out of politics until the conclusion of the war. Others, like Salmon Chase, were eager to become the next executive. Chase had used his Secretary of Treasury position to posture in the hopes of being chosen as an 1864 presidential candidate (Johnson). However, the Radical Democracy party chose to nominate John C. Fremont, the 1856 Republican Party candidate, Union Army General and radical abolitionist.

Discouraging Developments

The summer of 1864 held of series of unfortunate events for Abraham Lincoln’s re-election campaign:

(1) Grant’s Overland Campaign in Virginia had witnessed a string of failed attempts to defeat Lee, all with an immense death toll. As Grant pursued Robert E. Lee from the Battle of the Wilderness south to the assault on Petersburg, more than 80,000 casualties mounted, making the Overland Campaign the bloodiest of the entire Civil War.

(2) Assaults by Confederate General Jubal Early against Washington, D.C. had hurt communication lines, as well as shaken the confidence of the American people with their government’s effectiveness. When Early’s forces came within four miles of the Soldiers’ Home, where the president’s family was staying, a “very much irritated” Lincoln was escorted back to the White House, fearing this removal would be seen as weakness (Burlingame 3668).

(3) Lincoln’s call for 500,000 volunteer troops on July 18 came with huge disapproval from the populace. Many supporters urged Lincoln to rescind the proclamation, advising it would hurt his chances for re-election, to which Lincoln replied, ““What is the Presidency worth to me if I have no country? We must either have men, or the war must stop.” (Burlingame 3661)

(4) The resignation of Salmon Chase as Secretary of Treasury caused some public embarrassment and Radical Republican backlash.

(5) The demand for peace throughout the nation was growing immensely, motivating some to ask Lincoln to meet with Confederate leaders in the hopes of creating an armistice. In response, Lincoln allowed Horace Greeley to meet unofficially with such leaders at Niagara Falls, but sent word the terms of negotiation to be preservation of the Union and the abandonment of slavery. This prompted many to view Lincoln as acting in bad faith, unwilling to end the mayhem. (Waugh 256).

(6) Lincoln’s pocket veto of the Wade-Davis Bill in July had set off a storm of protest, leading the two Senators to issue a Manifesto on August 5, against what was seen as Lincoln’s tyrannical leadership (Zornow 147). The goal of this manifesto was to turn public sentiment against Lincoln so as to compel him to resign as the National Union nominee, making way for a new convention with a new candidate.

Dark Days of August

By August 1864, the compilation of so many discouraging events led several to believe Lincoln had no chance of winning re-election, including the President himself: “You think I don’t know I am going to be beaten, but I do and unless some great change takes place badly beaten” (Zornow 149). Discontented congressmen and journalists worked feverishly weighing their options and testing the waters on what course to take: do they keep their current nominees, or convince Fremont and Lincoln to step aside and hold a new convention? While many political leaders felt such a change was too late if the National Union Party was to successfully win the election, others disagreed and set to work making plans for a new convention to be held September 28 (Zornow 152). Lincoln’s friends and correspondents wrote him throughout the month with discouraging news. Henry J. Raymond offered this bleak synopsis:

“I am in active correspondence with your staunchest friends in every State and from them all I hear but one report. The tide is strongly against us. Hon. E. B. Washburne writes that ‘were an election to be held now in Illinois we should be beaten’. Mr. Cameron writes that Pennsylvania is against us. Gov. Morton writes that nothing but the most strenuous efforts can carry Indiana.’ New York ‘would go 50.000 against us to-morrow. And so of the rest” (Burlingame 3698).

In response to such dire circumstances, Raymond urged Lincoln to consider meeting with Davis for an armistice deal. However, Lincoln’s Cabinet advised against such a move.

Lincoln, seeing the writing on the wall, decided to make preparations to complete the most important elements of his party’s platform, even if the November election was lost. First, Lincoln had been dedicated to the cause of emancipation, despite immense criticism over this divisive policy. He felt slavery was evil and wanted to remove it throughout the nation. But if he lost the election, Lincoln knew the winning candidate would eradicate the Emancipation Proclamation and protect slavery in the southern states. So on August 19, Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass with the hopes of creating a plan to help free as many slaves as possible before the March 4 deadline (Burlingame 3717). Second, Lincoln was intent on preserving the nation; secession was never an option. So, on August 23 Lincoln wrote what is now called his Blind Memorandum, a note pledging his dedication to helping the new president win the war. In this memo Lincoln states:

“This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards” (House Divided Project).

This memo was blindly signed by his Cabinet, as a sort of date stamp proving his intentions before Lincoln’s theoretical loss in November, to show his fervent dedication to saving the nation.

The Democratic Convention

The steady decline of Lincoln’s public approval was a “miraculous” turn for the Democratic Party, which had all but faded away since 1860 (Johnson 19). As the summer proceeded, public support for potential Democratic candidates progressively increased. At the forefront was George B. McClellan, former General of the Army of the Potomac. Although subsequently removed from command for his refusal to follow Lee into Virginia after the Battle of Antietam, McClellan had extensive military experiences and a series of major victories that catapulted him to the top of the Democratic Party’s list. On August 29, the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois. At this meeting McClellan was chosen as the presidential candidate. However, the undoing of any potential success for the Democrats started with the creation of their official party platform. Clement Vallindigham, a leading Peace Democrat, created the platform based on the concept that the war was a failure and peace should be implemented immediately (Waugh 285). George McClellan, a supporter of promoting peace through successes in the war, never fully supported his party’s platform, especially this “war failure” plank. This separation, mixed with the northern sentiment that the Democratic platform was “treasonous,” slowly led to the ruin of the party’s political chances (Zornow 158).

Changing Tides

In September, the tide of public opinion once again turned in favor of Abraham Lincoln and the National Union Party. This change was ultimately due to newfound success in the Union’s military campaigns. General Sherman had captured Atlanta and was beginning to implement a march to Savannah to reclaim more rebel land and destroy confederate supplies. General Sheridan was facing success in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating General Jubal Early at the Battle of Winchester and carrying out a scorched earth campaign to destroy the “breadbasket of the Confederacy.” These military successes ultimately sealed the deal for Lincoln’s nomination. On November 8, 1864, Lincoln received 2,211,317 votes, 55.03% of the popular vote, and 212 of the 233 electoral votes (Goodman). In looking at the final totals, it is hard to imagine less than three months earlier Lincoln was convinced the election was a wash. How quickly the tides of politics can change.

References:

“THE BALTIMORE NOMINATION: Mr. Lincoln's Acceptance Address of Gov. Dennison,” New York Times, June 10, 1864. http://www.nytimes.com/1864/06/10/news/baltimore-nomination-mr-lincoln-s-acceptance-address-gov-dennison-platform-its.html .

Gary L. Bunker, “The ‘Campaign Dial’: A Premier Lincoln Campaign Paper, 1864,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 25, No. 1 (Winter 2004): 38-75.

Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).

Joseph George, Jr, “A Long Neglected Lincoln Speech: An 1864 Election Preliminary,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 16, No. 2 (Summer 1995): 23-28.

Bonnie Goodman, Presidential Campaigns and Elections Reference website, last modified January 26, 2013. http://presidentialcampaignselectionsreference.wordpress.com/overviews/19th-century/1864-overview/ .

Guy Gugliotta, “New Estimate Raises Civil War Death Toll,” New York Times, April 2, 2012.

“House Divided – Lincoln’s Writings.” http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/ .

David Alan Johnson, Decided on the Battlefield: Grant, Sherman, Lincoln and the Election of 1864 (New York: Prometheus Books, 2012).

Louis Taylor Merrill, “Benjamin Butler in the Presidential Campaign of 1864,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 33, No. 4 (March 1947): 537-570.

D.F. Murray, Presidential Election, 1864: Proceedings of the National Union Convention (New York: Baker & Goodwin, 1864).

John C. Waugh, Reelection Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency (New York: Crown Publishers, 1997).

Jennifer Weber, Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North

(Oxford University Press, 2006).

William Frank Zornow, “The Unwanted Mr. Lincoln,” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 45, No. 2 (Summer 1952): 146-153.

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"A Little Game of Bagatelle..."

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

The contest for the presidency in 1864 is depicted as a game of bagatelle (a game similar to billiards) between Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln and Democrat George B. McClellan.

Fremont's Candidacy (Leslie's Illustrated, June 26, 1864) Courtesy of HarpWeek

This discussion between the national ticket of the Radical Democracy - John Cochrane and General John Fremont - points to the popularity of the latter's wife, Jessie; it was unusual for wives of candidates to play a visible role in their husbands' campaigns.

First use of Republican Elephant (Father Abraham, Oct. 18,1864) Courtesy of HarpWeek

“The Elephant is Coming.” The animal is surrounded by text celebrating Republican victories in state elections, which were seen as precursors of the presidential contest a few weeks later in early November.

Columbia Demands Her Children

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Columbia, wearing a liberty cap and a shirt made of an American flag, demands, "Mr. Lincoln, give me back my 500,000 sons!!!" (Referencing the July call for troops)

Henry J. Raymond to Abraham Lincoln

August 22, 1864

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Abraham Lincoln's Blind Memorandum

August 23, 1864

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

"Mighty Particular" (Leslie's Illustrated, Oct. 1, 1864) Courtesy of HarpWeek

McClellan expresses surprise to Vallandigham over the poor state of the party’s horse, a weak animal named “Peace," eluding to the differences of opinion between the two over war aims.

The National Union Party Convention took place on June 7 and 8 in Baltimore, Maryland, where every northern State (and even a few southern states under Union occupation) sent delegates. During these Convention deliberations, Abraham Lincoln was elected unanimously on the first ballot, after some issues with Missouri, as the Union Party’s presidential candidate. William Dennison, Governor of Ohio and Chairman of the Convention commented on the choice of Lincoln:

“…we are assured that we are aiding in reelecting to the proud position of President of the United States one so highly worthy of it, one among not the least of whose claims is that he was the emancipator of four millions of bondmen” (Baltimore Nomination).

There were also many accolades given to Lincoln at the convention, with a Nebraska delegate calling Lincoln the “second savior of the world” (Murray). However, this unanimous election paints a deceiving portrait, for there was discontent brewing underneath this idealistic political surface. Maneuvers were being made to make the National Union ticket as enticing as possible. Abraham Lincoln’s vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, had been replaced with War Democrat Andrew Johnson, but many other possibilities had been considered with the hopes of appealing to the most constituents. Benjamin Butler was asked to run as the vice-presidential candidate. Butler, US General of the Army of the James, was immensely popular with the people; however, Butler declined (Merrill 549). Nonetheless, once the National Union Party’s choice was made, there were critics who opposed it. As early as June 9, the day after the conclusion of the Baltimore Convention, some were calling for a new Republican ticket, created by a new convention (Zornow 151).