Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-01
Presidential Campaigns
XII. The LIneoln.M Mcclellan Raoe Of 1904
BY Frederic J Haskln.

cut Tor .0iS PenrraiiOn, ACKNOWLEDGING
Abraham Lincoln AS one of the greatest Of
men and ~ the greatcst leader Of the Re
publican party, to realize the fact that he
won bis denomination and reelection 20
the Presidency in 1864 over the greatest
obstacles. Practically every lcader in the
Republican party WAS opposed 20 LIN
coins denomination. Nearly every prom
inent Republican in the country believed
that Lincoln could not defeat General
Mcclellan if he were renoninated. But
the people Of the whole North rose up IN
their might, ran rough-shod over the
politicians and instructed their delegate
10 vote for "Old Abe"
Months after the nomination was made
IL seemed certain that Mcclellan would be
elected. The Republican campaign lead
ers gave UP hope aud Lincoln himseh adj
rnitted defeat. Two months before the
election the tide turned the other way,
thanks 20 n Democratic bluDder and
victory won by the Union armies in the
South.
The Democratic party had been a won
derful political machine and had dOninat-
ed the country for 60 years. IL had been
more powerful in the North than in the
South for n goodly portion Of that six
decades. II was too strong in the North
10 die in a brief four years. So greatly did
the Republican organization fear It, not
withstanding its broken condition, that
the Republican leaders deliberately abb
j,Ired their party name and called'a ma
tional "Union" convention 10 meet AZ
Baltimore early in June The Union
party IL was that renorninated Lincoln, not
the Republican.
TWO KINDS or DEMOCRATS.
r II .e.s,,
in the Union were divided into two camps
war Democrats and peace Democrats.
Both factions were rather free with their
criticism Of Iincoln's administration, but
neither could say the hard things that the
Radical Republicans" we're saying. The
peace Democrats were those who believed
in letting the Southern States 90, or N
ANYTHING 20 bring peace. They were All
accused. and many were guilty Of beng m
gyrnpathy with the Confederates They
were the 'dough-faees" who had supported
| Pierce and Buchanan ard Breckenridge IN
the past. They were now the hated and
despised = ..ssCopperheads." One Of the
more pleasant Republican campaign songs
Of the period was
/ "Of ali the factious men we've scen,
Existing now or long since dead,
No one was ever known 30 mean,
AS him we call Copperhead,
A draft-evading Copperhead,
A rebel-aiding Copperhead
A scowling, slandering, bowling, pandering
Vicious. States-Rights' Copperhead-
II the Copperheads were hated, they
wore not so dangerous to Lincoln po-
litjcaIIv AZ the radicals" Of his own party
He knew where 10 place the Copperheads
but ID was hard for him to fight the radi-
Gals ike Fremont, Thad Stevens, Ben
Wade and Others Of that ilk who we're Op-
posed 70 him because he would not agree
ia the confscation Of all private property
in the South. IL was even more difficult
for Lincoln 70 meet the determined op-
Dositiou Of men ike Salmon F. Chase,
william RI. Seward and Edwin NJ. Stan
ton who held him in ill-concealed con-
tempt. And it was painful TO Lincoln 20
see men like Horace Greeley and Charles
Sumner openly oppose his denomination
on the ground that be could not possibly
be elected.
ENEMIES WITHIN TIE RANKS
The Radical Republicans" held
national mass convention at Cleveland
week in advance Of the ''Union" conven-
tlon at Baltimore. John G.. Fremont was
nominated for President and John Cock
raue for Vice-President, and the platform
declared for the conlscation Of all proper
tv in the Confederate States. There we're
comparativelv few prominent leaders
in the convention, but Il was the purpose 10
influence the Baltimore convention TO
take a radical stand Lincoln had already
been nominated, IN fact, because more
than two-thirds of the delegates TO Baltl-
more hsad been instructed. However, the
leaders might doubt Lincoln, the people
believed in Honest Abe.
Assured of his own denomination, LIN
coin set about the task of getting . war
Democrat and SOutherner for his run
ming mate. Andrew johnson Of Tennessee
was nominated because Lincoln person
ally conducted the campaign for his selee-
ton. He wanted TO get the support OF the
war Democrat and he wanted to have a
Southerner on the ticket because of It's
effect In Europe Lincoln held 70 the belief
that secession was unconstitutional and
that eleven States of the COnfederacy
were not legally out of the Union. II It
had not been for this belief at the be
ginning of the war, the North would have
taken Horace Greeley's advice 10 let the
wayward sisters depart IN peace.
The Baltimore convention held 70
Lincoln's ideas. Thaddeus Stevens was
there fighting against every movement 70
indorse the Lincoln policy OF reconstruc-
ton, contending that the seeded States
were actually and legally out Of the Union,
and that when retaken they should be
treated as conquered territory. Stevens
was defeated at every turn In the Baltl-
more convention. But his opposition 70
Iincoln's policy and his hatred Of Andrew
Johnson was not ended.
A DEMOCRATIC BLUNDER-
Nearly three months after he was re-
nominated. Lincoln and his advisers
reached the conclusion that Mcclellan,
already agreed upon as the Democratic
nominee, would win the election. On
August % he wrote and signed a paper,
which he sealed and delivered to the Secre-
tary of the Navy, Gideon WelleS, with
instructions not TO open it until after the
election. This paper read: This morning,
as for some days past, it seems exceedingly
probable that this administration will not
be reelected. Then it viii be my duty to
cooperate with the President-elect 50 as
to save the Union between the election
and Inauguration, as he VIII have Sc
cured his election on such grounds that he
cannot possibly save it afterward' =
Six days later, on August 20, the Demo
cratic National Convention met IN Chi
cago. 1t nominated General Mcclellan for
President and George III. Pendleton Of
Ohio for Vice-PTesident. Then il made
the fatal mistake of adopting platform
that declared the war to be failure Al