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The US Presidential Election of 1860
The tensions that had characterised the 1850s in the United States finally exploded into life in 1860, as the union which for so long had appeared to be creaking on rotten foundations collapsed. The Presidential election of 1860 would reshape the American landscape, and the first surprise of the campaign was the winner of the Constitutional Union nomination. Sam Houston was a radical from Texas who selected the more moderate John Bell as his running mate. The surprise in this nomination was that Houston was deeply unpopular with certain sections of the south who virulently opposed his strong unionism and anti-slavery stance. While the Constitutional Union was only a minor player in national politics, Houston’s nomination would set the tone for the rest of the political year.
The new major force in national politics, the Republican Party initially appeared to have the most fractured debate, with four clear frontrunners in Lincoln, Seward, Chase and Bates. However it was clear that Bates and Chase had deeply divided the voting the delegates, while Seward was viewed with suspicion by the Radical wing due to his shift to the moderate centre. Lincoln also had detractors who felt he was far too moderate to fully realise the party’s platform while in office. In the end, it came down to a straight fight between Seward and Lincoln, with Seward managing to carry it after coming extremely close to winning it on the second ballot with Lincoln instructing his supporters to shift their votes to Seward. This sudden change came thanks to the “Chicago Compromise” where Seward offered Lincoln the Vice-Presidency and his supporters’ cabinet positions. In the end the Seward/Lincoln ticket won the election comfortably, also thanks in part to the strong working relationship between Seward and Lincoln.
The Democrats meanwhile were thrown into turmoil with their northern and southern wings splitting, and the first convention having to end without having selected a Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate. The second convention comfortably resulted in a Douglas/Fitzpatrick win but the split between southern and northern Democrats was to have a big impact on the campaign. The election was one for the Republicans by oratorical skills of Seward and Lincoln, both of whom managed to draw huge audiences on their nationwide tour. Seward was prominently supported by northern media, with the New York Times and the New York Tribune running several months of pro-Republican coverage. The collapse of a unified Democratic front also enabled the Republicans to siphon votes from the moderates who might have supported them. The running of Houston for the Constitutional Union also failed to detract from the Republican bid, despite Democrat campaigners counting on it to draw votes away from the radical Seward ticket. Lincoln’s popularity and moderate stance was also a great boon to the Republican campaign. These multiple factors were responsible for the first Republican presidency and the surprisingly rapid ascension to the top of politics by a recently formed party.