1864 United States presidential election and Related Topics

Portrait by Alexander Gardner, November 1863

Abraham Lincoln

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American lawyer and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865.

The farm site where Lincoln grew up in Spencer County, Indiana

Lincoln in his late 30s as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Photo taken by one of Lincoln's law students around 1846.

Lincoln in 1858, the year of his debates with Stephen Douglas over slavery

A portrait of Dred Scott, petitioner in Dred Scott v. Sandford

Abraham Lincoln (1860) by Mathew Brady, taken the day of the Cooper Union speech

A Timothy Cole wood engraving taken from a May 20, 1860, ambrotype of Lincoln, two days following his nomination for president

Headlines on the day of Lincoln's inauguration portended hostilities with the Confederacy, Fort Sumter being attacked less than six weeks later.

March 1861 inaugural at the Capitol building. The dome above the rotunda was still under construction.

Lincoln with officers after the Battle of Antietam. Notable figures (from left) are 1. Col. Delos Sackett; 4. Gen. George W. Morell; 5. Alexander S. Webb, Chief of Staff, V Corps; 6. McClellan;. 8. Dr. Jonathan Letterman; 10. Lincoln; 11. Henry J. Hunt; 12. Fitz John Porter; 15. Andrew A. Humphreys; 16. Capt. George Armstrong Custer.

Running the Machine: An 1864 political cartoon satirizing Lincoln's administration – featuring William Fessenden, Edwin Stanton, William Seward, Gideon Welles, Lincoln, and others

Lincoln, absent his usual top hat, is highlighted at Gettysburg.

An electoral landslide for Lincoln (in red) in the 1864 election; southern states (brown) and territories (gray) not in play

A poster of the 1864 election campaign with Lincoln as the candidate for president and Andrew Johnson as the candidate for vice president

Lincoln's second inaugural address in 1865 at the almost completed Capitol building

A political cartoon of Vice President Andrew Johnson (a former tailor) and Lincoln, 1865, entitled The 'Rail Splitter' At Work Repairing the Union. The caption reads (Johnson): "Take it quietly Uncle Abe and I will draw it closer than ever." (Lincoln): "A few more stitches Andy and the good old Union will be mended."

Shown in the presidential booth of Ford's Theatre, from left to right, are assassin John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Clara Harris, and Henry Rathbone.

Abraham Lincoln, painting by George Peter Alexander Healy in 1869

Lincoln in February 1865, two months before his death

The Lincoln cent, an American coin portraying Lincoln

Lincoln's image carved into the stone of Mount Rushmore|alt=See caption

Abraham Lincoln, a 1909 bronze statue by Adolph Weinman, sits before a historic church in Hodgenville, Kentucky.|alt=See caption

The Lincoln memorial postage stamp of 1866 was issued by the U.S. Post Office exactly one year after Lincoln's death.

Painting of Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. Capitol, by Ned Bittinger

Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign.

Andrew Johnson

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The 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869.

Johnson's birthplace and childhood home, located at the Mordecai Historic Park in Raleigh, North Carolina

The Andrew Johnson House, built in 1851 in Greeneville, Tennessee

Portrait of Johnson, 1856, attributed to William Brown Cooper

Poster for the Lincoln and Johnson ticket by Currier and Ives

1865 cartoon showing Lincoln and Johnson using their talents as rail-splitter and tailor to repair the Union

Contemporary woodcut of Johnson being sworn in by Chief Justice Chase as Cabinet members look on, April 15, 1865

Official portrait of President Johnson, c. 1880

Thomas Nast cartoon of Johnson disposing of the Freedmen's Bureau as African Americans go flying

"The Situation", a Harper's Weekly editorial cartoon, shows Secretary of War Stanton aiming a cannon labeled "Congress" to defeat Johnson. The rammer is "Tenure of Office Bill" and cannonballs on the floor are "Justice".

Illustration of Johnson's impeachment trial in the United States Senate, by Theodore R. Davis, published in Harper's Weekly

Illustration of Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate George T. Brown delivering a summons for the impeachment trial to Johnson at the White House on March 7, 1868

Illustration of Johnson consulting with his counsel for the trial

"Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!": Harper's Weekly cartoon mocking Johnson on leaving office

The grave of Andrew Johnson, Greeneville, Tennessee

In 1864, Johnson was a logical choice as running mate for Lincoln, who wished to send a message of national unity in his re-election campaign; and became vice president after a victorious election in 1864.

National Union Party (United States)

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The Republican Party called itself the Union Party in 1864 and gave out this ballot for supporters to vote for Lincoln

Ulysses S. Grant/Schuyler Colfax 1868 National Union Republican campaign poster

1864 National Union Party presidential nominee, Abraham Lincoln

1864 National Union Party vice presidential nominee, Andrew Johnson

The National Union Party was the temporary name used by the Republican Party and elements of other parties for the national ticket in the 1864 presidential election that was held during the Civil War.

George B. McClellan

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American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey.

The Julian Scott portrait of McClellan in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

George B. McClellan and Mary Ellen Marcy (Nelly) McClellan

Patriotic cover honoring the arrival of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan in Washington, D.C., on July 26, 1861

General George B. McClellan with staff & dignitaries (from left to right): Gen. George W. Morell, Lt. Col. A.V. Colburn, Gen. McClellan, Lt. Col. N.B. Sweitzer, Prince de Joinville (son of King Louis Phillippe of France), and on the very right—the prince's nephew, Count de Paris

"Quaker guns" (logs used as ruses to imitate cannons) in former Confederate fortifications at Manassas Junction

Seven Days' Battles, June 25 – July 1, 1862

Federal troops under heavy attack at the Battle of Gaines's Mill, sketched by Alfred R. Waud and published in Harper's Weekly, July 26, 1862

Wounded men after the Battle of Savage's Station, one of the Seven Days Battles

McClellan riding through Frederick, Maryland, September 12, 1862 (From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper)

Maryland campaign, actions September 3–15, 1862

Lincoln with McClellan and staff after the Battle of Antietam. Notable figures (from left) are 5. Alexander S. Webb, Chief of Staff, V Corps; 6. McClellan;. 8. Dr. Jonathan Letterman; 10. Lincoln; 11. Henry J. Hunt; 12. Fitz John Porter; 15. Andrew A. Humphreys; 16. Capt. George Armstrong Custer

Lincoln in McClellan's tent after the Battle of Antietam

An anti-McClellan poster from Harper's Weekly, drawn by Thomas Nast, showing rioters assaulting children, slave-catchers chasing runaway slaves, and a woman being sold at a slave auction

Currier and Ives print of the McClellan–Pendleton Democratic presidential party ticket, 1864. Lithograph with watercolor.

Cartoon of McClellan used by his political opponents in 1864 presidential campaign

McClellan photographed by William S. Warren, circa 1880

Major General George B. McClellan on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.

McClellan statue in front of Philadelphia City Hall

McClellan never received another field command and went on to become the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 1864 presidential election against the Republican Lincoln.

Copperhead (politics)

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Immediate peace settlement with the Confederates.

Copperhead pamphlet from 1864 by Charles Chauncey Burr, a magazine editor from New York City

Clement Vallandigham, leader of the Copperheads, coined the slogan: "To maintain the Constitution as it is, and to restore the Union as it was."

In turn, the Copperheads became a major target of the National Union Party in the 1864 presidential election, where they were used to discredit the main Democratic candidates.

War Democrat

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War Democrats in American politics of the 1860s were members of the HiDemocratic Party who supported the Union and rejected the policies of the Copperheads (or Peace Democrats).

Recognizing the importance of the War Democrats, the Republican Party changed its name for the national ticket in the 1864 presidential election, held during the Civil War.

Republican Party (United States)

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One of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States (1861–1865) and the first Republican to hold the office

Charles R. Jennison, an anti-slavery militia leader associated with the Jayhawkers from Kansas and an early Republican politician in the region

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States (1869–1877)

James G. Blaine, 28th & 31st Secretary of State (1881; 1889–1892)

William McKinley, 25th president of the United States (1897–1901)

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States (1901–1909)

Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States (1929–1933)

Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States (1981–1989)

Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)

Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States (1923–1929)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 38th governor of California (2003–2011)

John McCain, United States senator from Arizona (1987–2018)

Donald Rumsfeld, 21st United States Secretary of Defense (2001–2006)

Colin Powell, 65th United States Secretary of State (2001–2005)

Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1995–1999)

Annual population growth in the U.S. by county - 2010s

This map shows the vote in the 2020 presidential election by county.

Political Spectrum Libertarian Left Centrist Right Authoritarian

U.S. opinion on gun control issues is deeply divided along political lines, as shown in this 2021 survey.

The election of 1864 united War Democrats with the GOP and saw Lincoln and Tennessee Democratic Senator Andrew Johnson get nominated on the National Union Party ticket; Lincoln was re-elected.

Democratic Party (United States)

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One of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States (1829–1837) and the first Democratic president.

Martin Van Buren was the eighth president of the United States (1837–1841) and the second Democratic president.

The 1885 inauguration of Grover Cleveland, the only president with non-consecutive terms

Leaders of the Democratic Party during the first half of the 20th century on 14 June 1913: Secretary of State William J. Bryan, Josephus Daniels, President Woodrow Wilson, Breckinridge Long, William Phillips, and Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, 32nd and 33rd presidents of the United States (1933–1945; 1945–1953), featured on a campaign poster for the 1944 presidential election

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, 35th and 36th presidents of the United States (1961–1963, 1963–1969)

Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States (1977–1981), delivering the State of the Union Address in 1979

Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States (1993–2001), at The Pentagon in 1998

Barack Obama speaking to College Democrats of America in 2007

President Barack Obama meeting with the Blue Dog Coalition in the State Dining Room of the White House in 2009

Eleanor Roosevelt at the 1956 Democratic National Convention in Chicago

President Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law at the White House on March 23, 2010

Secretary of State John Kerry addressing delegates at the United Nations before signing the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016

Shirley Chisholm was the first major-party African American candidate to run nationwide primary campaigns.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Immigration Act of 1965 as Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and others look on

Then-Senator Barack Obama shaking hands with an American soldier in Basra, Iraq in 2008

President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with President Barack Obama at Ben Gurion Airport in 2013

Self-identified Democrats (blue) versus self-identified Republicans (red) (January–June 2010 data)

Higher percentages of Democrats than Republicans are members of union households.

Elected at age 33, Jon Ossoff is currently the youngest member of the U.S. Senate.

Hillary Clinton was the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

Julián Castro served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Most War Democrats rallied to Republican President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party in the election of 1864, which featured Andrew Johnson on the Union ticket to attract fellow Democrats.

Photograph by Mathew Brady, c. 1860-1865

Hannibal Hamlin

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American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term.

1860 election campaign button for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. The other side of the button has Lincoln's portrait.

Sculptor Charles Tefft of Brewer, Maine, created this bronze statue of Hannibal Hamlin, which was dedicated in 1927 in downtown Bangor.

In the 1864 election, Hamlin was replaced as vice-presidential nominee by Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat chosen for his appeal to Southern Unionists.

1864 National Union National Convention