The Presidential Election of 1864

Lincoln is Reelected After Spectacular Union Victories in the South

May 6, 2009 Michael Streich

George McClellan Challenged Lincoln in 1864 - National Archives - Picture in the Public Domain

Although renominated unanimously, Republicans had strong doubts that Abraham Lincoln would be returned to office given the shift in mood among Northern voters.

Two days after the November 8th election in 1864, Abraham Lincoln addressed a group of well-wishers that had come to serenade him. “We can not have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.” As historian Paul Boller points out, the United States was the first nation ever to hold a general election in the midst of a major war. But the Election of 1864 was not predicted to be a victory for Lincoln.

Turning Points that Assured Lincoln’s Re-Election

By the summer of 1864, the mood toward war in the North was beginning to shift. The lack of major military victories as well as overwhelming casualties threw many into despair. Rumors of regional uprisings in southern Illinois and Missouri, the ever expanding costs of the war, inflation, and continued resistance to the military draft contributed to dissatisfaction and war weariness.

Some Republican leaders suggested that Lincoln step aside and even queried Ulysses Grant on his availability, a notion the general vigorously rejected. Influential leaders like the publisher Horace Greeley turned on Lincoln, viciously criticizing the President’s policy of staying the course. One disaffected faction of Republicans formed the Radical Democracy Party, nominating John C. Fremont.

As the administration faced growing despair over Lincoln’s prospects for reelection, significant military events in the South altered the course of the election:

• Admiral David Farragut’s capture of Mobile Bay
• General Philip Sheridan’s routing of Jubal Early and the devastation of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia
• General William Sherman’s victory over Confederate General John B. Hood and the burning of Atlanta
• General Grant’s progress at Petersburg

The Democrats in the 1864 Election

Calling for an immediate end to hostilities in their party platform, the Democrats nominated George B. McClellan, whose inaction during the Peninsula campaign and later timidity at Antietam resulted in his being relieved of command by Lincoln. McClellan was caught between having to defend a platform he did not agree with and declaring that all heretofore war deaths had been in vain if the party won and forced a negotiated peace.

Results of the Election of 1864

Because of the changing tide of the war, Lincoln felt comfortable in the final weeks before the election. Even Horace Greeley was supporting him. John C. Fremont withdrew from the race and most Northern voters were elated by the news of victory on all fronts.

Abraham Lincoln won the election with 55% of the popular vote versus 45% for McClellan. The electoral vote, however, was more lopsided. Lincoln received 212 electoral votes to McClellan’s 21. Lincoln viewed the election results as a referendum of his conduct of the war, specifically emancipation.

The Republicans had run as the National Unity Party, selecting a Southern Democrat and former slave-holder from Tennessee as vice-president. Andrew Johnson was the only U.S. Senator from the South not to have resigned his office and held strong pro-Union views. He appeared to be the ideal running mate for a party emphasizing unity and reaching out to Northern Democrats.

Somewhat taken to alcohol (he was drunk on Inauguration Day and slurred his speech), Johnson would prove to be a blunder after becoming President upon Lincoln’s assassination. Impeached by the Radical Republicans, he would, ultimately, be returned to the Senate but died just before the new Congress convened.

Sources:

• Paul F. Boller, Jr. Presidential Campaigns From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Joseph R. Fornieri, editor (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003)
• Page Smith, Trial by Fire: a People’s History of the Civil War and Reconstruction (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1982)

Copyright Michael Streich. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.