1864: The Civil War Election
The 1864 presidential campaign was bitter. The bloody conflict between North and South loomed over every aspect of American life. The electorate was so divided that some argued the election should be postponed until the war was over. Ultimately, however, the election proceeded as scheduled.
President Abraham Lincoln’s candidacy was widely contested, and his bid for re-election was seriously challenged from within his own party. In an effort to appeal to more Democratic Party supporters, Lincoln’s Republican Party renamed itself the National Union Party. At the same time, a Republican fringe group demanding a stronger position against slavery split off to form the “Radical Democracy” party and nominated John C. Frémont as their candidate. Frémont supported combat without compromise, believed that Congress should strictly control Southern reconstruction efforts, and urged the confiscation of Confederate property.
The Democrats nominated General George B. McClellan, whose campaign was less divisive. His platform called for whatever compromises were necessary to end the war and restore the Union. Although criticized for military losses and dogged by controversy over the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln successfully secured the nomination for President on the National Union ticket. Despite internal Party conflicts, Republicans rallied around a platform that supported restoration of the Union and the abolition of slavery. By the time of the election, several victories on the battlefield had turned the tide of war in the Union’s favor, influencing the electorate. Lincoln was re-elected with fifty-five percent of the popular vote and 212 of the 234 electoral votes.
McClellan Poster
This campaign poster attacks Lincoln’s position on the Civil War and civil rights for African Americans. Cornell University’s first President, Andrew Dickson White, collected this poster in his Civil War scrapbook.
Campaign Songs
Lyrics of presidential campaign songs were paired with familiar tunes of the day. These popular tunes introduced nominees and their agendas to the public.
American Flag Banner
This muslin textile promotes National Union (Republican) Party candidates Lincoln and Johnson, as well as Reuben E. Fenton and Thomas G. Alvord, who were campaigning for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York State, respectively. A series of holes on the left margin of the textile suggests that it was used as a wall hanging.
Campaign Buttons
Lydia Maria Child
The abolitionist Lydia Maria Child wrote her friend just after the presidential election. Child expresses her satisfaction with the election’s outcome and her faith in her country's republican system of government. She writes, in part:
"I am a happy woman since the election. It makes me feel that our republican form of government rests on secure foundations. There was no enthusiasm in honest old Abe. There is no beauty in him, that men should desire him; ... no military renown... in fact, no glittering prestige of any kind surrounds him; yet the people triumphantly elected him, in spite of all manner of machinations ... I call this the triumph of Free Schools; for it was the intelligence and reason of the people that re-elected Abraham Lincoln."