United States presidential election, 1864

United States presidential election, 1864 was the 20th quadrennial presidential election, held during the American Civil War. Incumbent Republican President Abraham Lincoln ran for re-election under the banner of the National Union Party, facing Democratic nominee George B. McClellan, the former commander of the Union Army. The contest was a referendum on Lincoln's leadership and his determination to pursue the war to its conclusion, culminating in a decisive victory for the incumbent.

Background

The election occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing American Civil War, a conflict that had raged since the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861. By mid-1864, the war effort under Lincoln and generals like Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman was proving costly, with high casualties in campaigns such as the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg leading to significant war-weariness in the Northern United States. The Emancipation Proclamation had reframed the war's purpose around ending slavery in the United States, which energized abolitionists but alienated some Copperhead Democrats who favored a negotiated peace with the Confederate States of America. Key military victories in the fall, particularly the Capture of Atlanta by Sherman's forces, dramatically shifted public sentiment in favor of continuing the war to a final victory.

Nominations

The National Union Party convention was held in Baltimore in June 1864, temporarily setting aside the Republican label to attract pro-war War Democrats. The convention renominated Abraham Lincoln for president and selected War Democrat Andrew Johnson, the military governor of Tennessee, as his vice-presidential candidate, replacing incumbent Hannibal Hamlin. The Democratic National Convention convened in Chicago in late August, adopting a platform written by Clement Vallandigham that declared the war a failure and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a negotiated peace. The Democrats nominated former Union Army General George B. McClellan, who was popular with soldiers but had been relieved of command by Lincoln in 1862, for president, with George H. Pendleton of Ohio as his running mate.

General election

The campaign was intensely fought, with the Democratic platform's peace plank creating a stark contrast with the National Union's commitment to unconditional victory. Lincoln's administration actively encouraged voting by Union Army soldiers, with many states making provisions for absentee ballots from the front lines, a factor that significantly aided his totals. The Republican-dominated Congress had also admitted the new state of Nevada to the Union in October, securing its additional electoral votes. Major newspapers like the New York Tribune and Harper's Weekly publisher Harper's Weekly, with cartoons by Thomas Nast, were influential in shaping public opinion in support of Lincoln and the war effort.

Results

Abraham Lincoln won a commanding victory, securing 212 electoral votes from 22 states, including every state that participated except Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey. George B. McClellan won only 21 electoral votes, carrying his home state of New Jersey along with Kentucky and Delaware. Lincoln won the national popular vote by a margin of 55.0% to 45.0%, a decisive mandate to continue the war. The soldier vote proved overwhelmingly for Lincoln, with an estimated 78% of the Union Army vote casting ballots for the commander-in-chief. The results also strengthened Republican majorities in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

Aftermath

Lincoln's re-election ensured the Union would fight the war to a conclusive end, removing any possibility of a negotiated settlement that would preserve the Confederate States of America. His second inaugural address in March 1865, delivered as the war neared its conclusion, famously called for "malice toward none" and "charity for all" in the process of Reconstruction. Tragically, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. just six weeks after his second inauguration, elevating Andrew Johnson to the presidency. Johnson's subsequent clashes with the Radical Republicans over Reconstruction policies set the stage for years of political conflict following the surrender at Appomattox.

Category:United States presidential election, 1864 Category:1864 elections in the United States Category:Abraham Lincoln