Existing comment:
August 1864:
The 1864 Presidential Election:
The 1864 election pitted Lincoln against Democratic opponent George McClellan. Democrats condemned the war and made it plain that their administration would not share Lincoln's commitment to ending slavery.
As the summer dragged on, McClellan looked like a winner. On August 23, 1864, Lincoln invited his Cabinet to sign the back of a paper whose contents were unknown to them. Only after the election did they learn what it said:
"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."
A Front Porch Campaign:
Nineteenth century presidential candidates did not campaign in the modern sense. Lincoln made just three trips away from Washington during his presidency, but he found ways to communicate his message. Besides writing letters for publication, the president greeted groups at the White House. In August 1864, Lincoln told a visiting Ohio regiment:
"I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am a living witness that nay one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order the each of you may have through this free government... an open field and a fair chance... that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life... It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright." |