August 1864 Quotes

[ITAL]

Regarding President Lincoln:

"From almost all points very bad news in relation to Mr. Lincoln's chances of re-election. The people at large seems not so enthusiastic for him now." Adam de Gurowski


"Mr. Lincoln is already beaten. We must have another ticket to save us from utter overthrow. If we such another ticket as could be had by naming Grant, Butler, or Sherman for President, and Farragut as Vice, we could make a fight yet." Horace Greeley

"I cannot believe that Mr. Lincoln, if fully advised of the state of the public mind, would desire to enter upon a canvass." Daniel S. Dickenson


"It may be that Mr. Lincoln will see that we shall be stronger and more united under another candidate." Charles Sumner


"The people regard Mr. Lincoln's candidacy as a misfortune. His apparent strength when nominated was fictitious, and now the fiction has disappeared, and instead of confidence there is distrust." Richard Smith


"It is rumored in New York, and that report is believed by many who are in a position to be well-informed, that at an early date, Abraham Lincoln will withdraw his name as a candidate for re-election, and urge the assembling of another nomination convention." --- Buffalo Courier newspaper



That's just a sampling.

[Simeon Salus]

1. Lincoln did not run for re-election as a Republican in November 1964

He was afraid the Republican party was too emancipationist, too fanatical, too liberal, too narrow a flag for most border state voters. For perspective, New York had the largest state population and NYC was firmly Democratic.

Lincoln's opponent was a famous US Army major general George McClellan who wanted to seek peace with the South. Abraham Lincoln ran as a National Unionist, embracing a new Tennessee-born Vice President Andrew Johnson, the War Democrats, and a less punishing tone towards southern states willing to rejoin the Union (and vote National Unionist), like Louisiana.

[ITAL]

2. Technically, correct

Some (not all) Radical Republicans had already split off and nominated Fremont by the time the rest of the Republicans got together. But The National Union Party was mostly made up of the rest of the GOP, plus some War Democrats (which is why Johnson ended up on the ticket).

[Simeon Salus]

3. 1864 must have seemed a particularly bad year to be an incumbent President, with an increasingly unpopular war

The war was in its fourth long year and casualty lists were longer than ever before.

Lincoln's re-election was a near thing. But for the Union's 1864 military successes McClellan might have won more states.

[ITAL]

4. Agreed

But I must also point out, that Lincoln seems to have always been more popular with "the people" than the political elites. I seem to remember reading that even after Gettysburg/Vicksburg in 1863 that only one Republican Congressman came out and endorsed him for re-election. All the others wouldn't go on the record. And no GOP Senator spoke in favor of Lincoln.

They always seemed to be looking for an excuse to jettison him, either because he was too radical, or he wasn't radical enough.

[Wednesdays]

5. Yeah, in August the war was bogged down

with Sherman's forces besieging Atlanta, and it was a very slow campaign.

That changed when Atlanta was finally captured in September, giving Lincoln his badly-needed victory. Without Atlanta, Lincoln could very well have lost the election.