Recounting the Election of 1864

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Recommended: Results of the 1860 presidential election

Before 1864, no country had ever held elections during military emergencies. This all changed when Lincoln decided to run for his reelection in 1864. The only issue was the fact that the Union was in the 4th year of war with the Confederacy, but Lincoln said "We cannot 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." The rebellion Lincoln mention was the Confederacy itself, he did not want to postpone elections just because of Civil War. Five months after the campaign, Lincoln was reelected and the Confederacy was conquered. a) Lincoln's chances for reelection seemed impossible to the public and to Lincoln himself; no president had been reelected other than Andrew Jackson and more importantly, Lincoln was undermined by extensive disapproval of his handling of the war. The Union was disappointed with Lincoln's faulty strategies and by his assertion of the Emancipation Proclamation. The antislavery forces of the Republican Party noticed Lincoln's vulnerability and started trying to find new candidates, in the end they settled for John C Fremont, an enemy of Lincoln's. The National Unity Party (formerly known as the regular Republican party) chose Lincoln as the first ballot during the convention and a war general named Andrew Jackson as their second. While the Republican Party wished for the South to surrender, the Democrats wished for a negotiation with the South. They chose George McClellan as their candidate due to his strong war background and skillful strategies. During the campaign, Fremont decided to drop out, he feared that if he didn't then the opposing party (the Democrats) would win... ... middle of paper ... ...f any other candidate had won the Election of 1864, the history of America would have changed completely. McClellan had ran on a peace platform and if he had become President, he would have halted military operations while negotiations took place. As a result, the Confederacy would have definitely have become an independent, sovereign country and America would have become two separate nations. The Election of 1864 was a surprising one. It was held during war times, and Lincoln won by over 400,000 popular votes and an electoral majority. Soldiers in battle also had a chance to vote for the first time in history and more than 70% of the Union soldiers gave Lincoln their vote. This was also the first reelection in American history since Andrew Jackson. The only negative part for Lincoln was the fact that he had been assassinated just six weeks after his reelections.

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