Lincoln loses in 1864, does he keep power nonetheless to preserve union?

Lets say that for whatever reason, Lincoln were to lose the Presidential election in 1864, and that McCllelan had promised to end the war and in extension, recognize the Confederacy. Faced with the prospect of the US being divided, does Lincoln nonetheless deny McClellan the presidency and remain in power even if he had lost the election, and be willing to go against the will of the people in order to beat the South.

(Again, McCllellan's chances of winning against a wartime president was pretty ASB, but its just for discussions sake)
 
Not very ASB. You could use any number of battles as a POD, making them much bloodier and draining some of Lincoln's support. Although it would be difficult to pull off.

On topic: Lincoln did do some things that may not have been exactly constitutional, (habeas corpus, anyone?) but I don't see him actually spitting in the face of the American people and refusing to cede power. That would do more to tear the nation apart than stepping aside would. Given the choice between two large successor states and a theoretically higher number (hell, he might trigger a second American Civil War; at the very least, he's going to piss off a number of people and may shove border states into the Confederate camp), I'm assuming he'd choose the former.
 

Grimbald

Monthly Donor
Not a chance

Lincoln was not the type.

He was more likely to accept the rebuke and quietly go home.

Although McC had the support of the Copperhead wing his own desire was to win the war. I think he would have made one last go at victory before accepting peace talks.
 
Flat-out overthrowing the constitution wouldn't do much to preserve the Union. In fact, I'd be surprised if quite a few states (or most) wouldn't revolt immediately. If Lincoln wanted to hold on to the presidency regardless of election results, it would be a lot smarter to just cancel the election due the the insurrection, rather than losing it and refusing to vacate office. The former could be at least somewhat defended as justified, the latter could not.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Lets say that for whatever reason, Lincoln were to lose the Presidential election in 1864, and that McCllelan had promised to end the war and in extension, recognize the Confederacy.

McClellan was possibly willing to open negotiations with the Confederates and, depending on the military situation, he would have faced serious (perhaps irresistible) political pressure from his own party to do so. But he would not have openly promised to recognize the Confederacy before taking office under any circumstances. McClellan's sincere intention in any negotiations would have been a restoration of the Union.

Faced with the prospect of the US being divided, does Lincoln nonetheless deny McClellan the presidency and remain in power even if he had lost the election, and be willing to go against the will of the people in order to beat the South.

No, he would not. He would have accepted the results and gone home to Springfield. But even if he had tried, how could he have succeeded? Riots in the major cities (the centers of Democratic power) would have broken out at once and the army probably would have refused to obey orders.

(Again, McCllellan's chances of winning against a wartime president was pretty ASB, but its just for discussions sake)

It's not ASB at all. If the Confederacy had done better during the 1864 campaign season, Lincoln almost certainly would have been defeated.
 
The closest I could see happening is that after Atlanta the war is won between Lincoln's defeat in the election and Little Mac's inaugeration. You could also see Little Mac win the war in 1865.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
The closest I could see happening is that after Atlanta the war is won between Lincoln's defeat in the election and Little Mac's inaugeration. You could also see Little Mac win the war in 1865.

As in previous discussions on this subject, for some reason you insist on assuming that the military situation in 1864 would remain the same ITTL as it was IOTL, even though we are talking about an alternate TL. Obviously, if the TL has changed sufficiently to allow McClellan to win the election, the military situation is going to be much more favorable to the Confederacy than it was IOTL.
 
As in previous discussions on this subject, for some reason you insist on assuming that the military situation in 1864 would remain the same ITTL as it was IOTL, even though we are talking about an alternate TL. Obviously, if the TL has changed sufficiently to allow McClellan to win the election, the military situation is going to be much more favorable to the Confederacy than it was IOTL.

As I said that is the closest I could come up with. Lincoln isn't going to not step down.
 
Actually it's Lincoln who established the rule that war is a net gain to a POTUS running for re-election, and he and Ulysses S. Grant were the only two people for a long time re-elected, and certainly the only two to be re-elected to consecutive terms. In 1864 it wasn't as ASB as it sounds. Little Mac agreeing to recognize the CSA, however, is Crack!TL territory.
 
Top