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1864 United States presidential election

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Presidential electoral votes by state.

The U.S. presidential election of 1864 was conducted in the middle of the Civil War, and as such the Confederate states did not participate. The war was taking a heavy toll in terms of lives and resources, and as such incumbent President Abraham Lincoln was seen as vulnerable.

The Lincoln/Johnson ticket ran with the slogan "Don't change horses in the middle of a stream," and over time a series of Union victories culminating in the capture of Atlanta, Georgia by forces led by General William Tecumseh Sherman restored his popularity. Meanwhile, the absence of the southern states from the election gave Lincoln an enormous advantage over his opponent, and on November 8 he won by over 400,000 popular votes and easily clinched an electoral majority. This was the first election in which soldiers serving in the field were allowed to cast ballots (however, this was not the case in every state). It was widely assumed - and indeed evident in the soldiers' corps - that those serving in the Army were going to turn out heavily for Lincoln; the expectation was validated as Lincoln received more than 70% of the soldier's vote.

Nominations

"National Union Party" nomination

Abraham Lincoln was renominated by the Republican Party, which changed its name for the 1864 election to the "National Union Party". Lincoln's nomination was not unanimous, however, as General Ulysses S. Grant captured 22 of the 516 delegate votes. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, despite his offers to aid the nation in any manner Lincoln saw fit during the war, was not rewarded with renomination. Seeing an opportunity to show a willingness to work with the south, and trying to woo Democrats and those on the border states, the convention nominated Andrew Johnson of Tennessee as Lincoln's running mate over Hamlin, Daniel Stevens Dickinson and Benjamin Franklin Butler.

Democratic Party nomination

The Democratic Party nominated General George B. McClellan, who at one time had commanded the Union army in Virginia but was replaced by Lincoln in 1862. McClellan defeated Horatio Seymour and others for the nomination; he and ticketmate George H. Pendleton were nominated on a peace platform - a platform McClellan personally rejected.

General election

Results

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote(a) Electoral
vote(a), (b)
Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote(a), (b)
Abraham Lincoln Republican/
National Union
(c)
Illinois 2,218,388 55.0% 212 Andrew Johnson(c) Tennessee 212
George Brinton McClellan Democratic New Jersey 1,812,807 45.0% 21 George Hunt Pendleton Ohio 21
Other 692 0.0% Other
Total 4,031,887 100% 233 233
Needed to win 117 117

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1864 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 31, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

(a) The states in rebellion did not participate in the election of 1864.
(b) One Elector from Nevada did not vote
(c) Andrew Johnson had been a Democrat, and would again later be elected to the Senate as a Democrat. The Republicans changed their name in the 1864 election to accommodate Democrats who supported Lincoln.

See also