Examine Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the U.S. presidential election of 1860
Examine Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the U.S. presidential election of 1860
Learn about Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the U.S. presidential election of 1860.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: He surrounded himself with wise and clever counselors like Richard Oglesby. Just before the Illinois State Republican Convention in May 1860, Oglesby learned that Lincoln had been a railsplitter, so he had Lincoln supporters parade on the convention floor logs Lincoln had split thirty years before, and a banner proclaiming, "Lincoln, the Railsplitter." Thus, a popular symbol was born: "Lincoln, the Humble Railsplitter."
[Music out]
The 1860 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago. William Seward was the favorite candidate with Lincoln a serious dark horse [background noise from convention]. Most people thought Seward would get the nomination; but in David Davis, Lincoln had a shrewd floor manager. With Lincoln's consent, Davis played one tune: Seward can't win, Lincoln can. He asked Lincoln for possible compromises to win the nomination, but Lincoln, who remained in Springfield, telegraphed . . .
LINCOLN: Make no contracts that will bind me.
NARRATOR: May 18, 1860. The balloting started at ten in the morning. On the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln became the Republican candidate for president [music in].
Little Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, wrote to suggest that Lincoln grow a beard because . . .
GRACE BEDELL: All the ladies like whiskers and would tease their husbands to vote for you.
NARRATOR: Lincoln answered . . .
LINCOLN: Having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?
[Music out]
NARRATOR: But the idea stayed with him. Lincoln faced two Democratic rivals: Stephen A. Douglas for northern moderates and John Breckinridge for the hard-lined southerners. It was not a pleasant campaign. Lincoln was viciously represented as a radical and warmonger out to destroy the South. He was neither. On November 6 [music in], he was elected President of the United States. The South threatened secession. The day after his election, Lincoln told some reporters . . .
LINCOLN: Well, boys, your troubles are over now; mine have just begun.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: Lincoln left for Washington from the Springfield depot on February 11, 1861, never to return again alive. On the way, the train stopped in upstate New York, and Lincoln was able to show Grace Bedell his new-grown whiskers.
On March 4, 1861, he became the sixteenth president of the United States. Seven states had already seceded. In his Inaugural Address, he said . . .
LINCOLN: In your hands my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you; you have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.
NARRATOR: He surrounded himself with wise and clever counselors like Richard Oglesby. Just before the Illinois State Republican Convention in May 1860, Oglesby learned that Lincoln had been a railsplitter, so he had Lincoln supporters parade on the convention floor logs Lincoln had split thirty years before, and a banner proclaiming, "Lincoln, the Railsplitter." Thus, a popular symbol was born: "Lincoln, the Humble Railsplitter."
[Music out]
The 1860 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago. William Seward was the favorite candidate with Lincoln a serious dark horse [background noise from convention]. Most people thought Seward would get the nomination; but in David Davis, Lincoln had a shrewd floor manager. With Lincoln's consent, Davis played one tune: Seward can't win, Lincoln can. He asked Lincoln for possible compromises to win the nomination, but Lincoln, who remained in Springfield, telegraphed . . .
LINCOLN: Make no contracts that will bind me.
NARRATOR: May 18, 1860. The balloting started at ten in the morning. On the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln became the Republican candidate for president [music in].
Little Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, wrote to suggest that Lincoln grow a beard because . . .
GRACE BEDELL: All the ladies like whiskers and would tease their husbands to vote for you.
NARRATOR: Lincoln answered . . .
LINCOLN: Having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?
[Music out]
NARRATOR: But the idea stayed with him. Lincoln faced two Democratic rivals: Stephen A. Douglas for northern moderates and John Breckinridge for the hard-lined southerners. It was not a pleasant campaign. Lincoln was viciously represented as a radical and warmonger out to destroy the South. He was neither. On November 6 [music in], he was elected President of the United States. The South threatened secession. The day after his election, Lincoln told some reporters . . .
LINCOLN: Well, boys, your troubles are over now; mine have just begun.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: Lincoln left for Washington from the Springfield depot on February 11, 1861, never to return again alive. On the way, the train stopped in upstate New York, and Lincoln was able to show Grace Bedell his new-grown whiskers.
On March 4, 1861, he became the sixteenth president of the United States. Seven states had already seceded. In his Inaugural Address, he said . . .
LINCOLN: In your hands my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you; you have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.