The spring issue of the Lincolnian, the newsletter of the Lincoln Group of DC, included my most recent article about Lincoln’s two trips to New England. As Lincoln toured around Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, many of the people introducing his dozen speeches called him the Honorable Abraham Lincoln (because he was a sitting US Congressman at the time) and announced him as “the next vice president of the United States). At least one introduced him as “the next President” of the United States in anticipation of the Republican National Convention coming up in just over two months.
Some of this was the usual pumping up the importance of the speaker that the audience would have to listen to for the next two hours or so. But many of these state party leaders were beginning to think of him as a member of the Republican Party ticket. Most of them still assumed that the heir-apparent, William H. Seward was the presumptive nominee, but that Lincoln might be a good vice president. After all, Lincoln had received 110 votes to be the vice-presidential running mate of John C. Fremont in 1856 (the spot eventually went to William L. Dayton), so he wasn’t a complete unknown.
Still Lincoln wasn’t expected to be in the running for the 1860 presidential nomination. How New England helped him win is the topic of my article. Take a look below (hover over the first page and click the arrow at the bottom to see the second and third pages):
While you’re here, check out the various Lincoln in New England events on my media page.
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David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of many books on Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, and Thomas Edison.
