Election of 1864 – David J. Kent

Election of 1864, Stolen? Abraham Lincoln won reelection in 1864. Or so we remember. But the results may not be what they seem, and some of the states had questionable legitimacy. I’ll be discussing this topic in a new presentation scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2024.

RSVP for the Zoom-only event here.

A week ago, I presented information on the incredible political upheaval that led to the 1864 election. The upheaval was so substantial that many voices were calling for the election to be postponed. Lincoln refused to postpone it, noting that:

We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.

While the conservative party (the Democrats at that time) ran a “peace” platform calling the war a failure and for breaking up the Union, the progressive party (the Republicans at the time) ran Lincoln for reelection with a War Democrat (the side of that party that also wanted to win the war) on a platform that called for winning the Civil War, restoring the Union, and calling for a Constitutional Amendment to end slavery. After I presented on those topics, my colleague, Ed Epstein, presented on the critical soldier vote, including whether they were enthusiastic Lincoln supporters or were coerced into voting for him? There is a great video of the earlier program you can watch on YouTube here.

In the new program on October 29, I’ll dig into the results of the election itself. After considerable concern that Lincoln could not win reelection, he took a second term in a landslide. But all was not what it seemed. Eight states in particular present significant insight into what was happening in the United States at the time. Three went to McClellan, two were invalidated, and three more only existed under questionable circumstances. Seriously, was Nevada even a state? And did Robert E. Lee try to disrupt the whole thing? I’ll take a look at each and what they say about the nation as a whole.

This should be a fascinating presentation and all accessible by Zoom. RSVP here for the October 29 program so we can get an approximate head count and so you can receive the Zoom link. The program begins at 6 pm Eastern Time.

[Photo by David J. Kent]

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David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity andEdison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Abraham Lincoln was reelected for a second term in 1864, which surprised everyone, including Lincoln. After three years of a brutal war pitting American against American, many people were ready for a change. But “changing horses in the middle of the stream,” as Lincoln once noted, would lead to the destruction of the United States.

Find out why the election was so critical during the Lincoln Group of DC’s full-day symposium on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at the E. Barrett Prettyman District Courthouse in downtown Washington, D.C. Some of the most prominent Lincoln scholars will be explaining just how critical this election was, and how it went from a surefire Lincoln loss to his victory. Featured presenters are:

Michael Burlingame: One of the most respected Lincoln experts in the world, Burlingame holds the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Author and editor of many books on Lincoln, his topic for the symposium is “Radicals, Abolitionists, and Lincoln’s Reelection.”

Thomas Horrocks: Director of special collections and the John Hay Library at Brown University, Horrocks is the author/editor for multiple Lincoln books and will speak on “The Rail Splitter as Father Abraham: Lincoln’s 1864 Campaign Biographies.”

Elizabeth R. Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of History at the University of Virginia and author of several books, including her latest: Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War. Her topic for the symposium is “Catastrophe or Setback? The Election of 1864 in Confederate Eyes.”

Jennifer Weber is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas and specializes in Civil War studies. Her book Copperheads was widely acclaimed. Dr. Weber will speak on “The Summer of ’64.”

Jonathan W. White: Assistant Professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and the author of Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln. He will speak on “Emancipation and the Soldier Vote of 1864.”

More details on the speakers and the program can be found on the website of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia.

Time is running out so go to the link above to register to attend. You can also register at the door. The symposium is Saturday, November 8, 2014 and runs from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.

You don’t want to miss this event (or any of the other 150th anniversary events the Lincoln Group has coming up). Join us now!

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. His most recent article, “Lincoln and the Rule of Three,” was published in the September 2014 issue of The Lincolnian. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

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