1864 United States presidential election

The 1864 United States presidential election was on November 8, 1864. It was the 20th election in the history of the United States. President Abraham Lincoln was the National Union Party candidate. Union Army general George B. McClellan was the Democratic Party candidate. Lincoln won the election with 212 electoral votes. McClellan got just 21 electoral votes.

The election happened during the American Civil War. Lincoln and McClellan both promised to win the war if elected. The candidates had very different opinions on slavery. Lincoln promised to end slavery in the United States, while McClellan did not support ending slavery. 

Lincoln thought he would lose the election at first. Some National Union Party supporters thought the party should choose a different candidate. Many people were tired of the war after three years of fighting. Democrats made racist attacks on Lincoln and blamed him for fighting so long to end slavery. Democratic writers called Lincoln an "ape" and a "widow-maker" who cared more about African Americans than ending the war.

The Union Army won a victory in the Atlanta Campaign a short time before the election. Many voters felt Lincoln was responsible for this victory. While McClellan supported the war, other Democrats called the war a "failure." The different opinions in the Democratic Party made McClellan seem like a weak leader. Lincoln won a landslide victory on Election Day. 53% of civilians and 78% of soldiers voted for Lincoln. Many historians share the opinion that voters rewarded Lincoln for leading the Union to victory in the war.

Lincoln was the first president to win two elections since Andrew Jackson. He was the first president to be chosen twice by his party since Martin Van Buren, who ran in 1836 and 1840. 

Candidates
National Union Party
1864 National Union Party candidates  for Presidentfor Vice President center|200x200px center|200x200px 16thPresident of the United States(1861–1865) Military Governor of Tennessee(1862–1865)

 Presidential 
 Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States from Illinois (1861-1865) (Presidential candidate)
 Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the Union Army from Ohio (1864-1869) (Did not want to run)

 Vice presidential 
 Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee (1862-1865) (Vice presidential candidate)
 Hannibal Hamlin, 15th vice president of the United States from Maine (1861-1865)
 Daniel Dickinson, 27th attorney general of New York (1862-1863)
 Benjamin Butler, major general in the Union Army from Massachusetts
 Lovell Rousseau, major general in the Union Army (1862-1863) and former Kentucky state senator (1860-1861)

Democratic Party
1864 Democratic Party candidates   for Presidentfor Vice President center|200x200px center|200x200px 4thCommanding General of the Union Army(1861–1862) U.S. Representativefrom Ohio's 1st congressional district(1857–1865)

 Presidential 
 George B. McClellan, former commanding general of the Union Army, from New Jersey (1861-1862) (Presidential candidate)
 Thomas H. Seymour, former U.S. minister to Russia from Connecticut (1854-1858)
 Lazarus W. Powell, U. S. senator from Kentucky (1859-1865) (Did not want to run)
 Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States from New Hampshire (1853-1857) (Did not want to run)
 Horatio Seymour, 18th & 22nd governor of New York (1853-1854, 1863-1864) (Did not want to run)

 Vice presidential 
 George H. Pendleton, U.S. representative from Ohio (1857-1865) (Vice presidential candidate)
 George Washington Cass, railroad president from Pennsylvania (1856-1883)
 Daniel W. Voorhees, U.S. representative from Indiana (1861-1866, 1869-1873)
 Augustus C. Dodge, former U.S. minister to Spain from Iowa (1855-1859)

Notes

 References 

Category:1864 in the United States
Category:United States presidential elections