“This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterwards.”
— President Abraham Lincoln, August 23rd, 1864
Americans are watching the intense rhetoric by Former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to fight during the last stretch of the Election of 2024. As some of this behavior is alarming, it is surprisingly common within this political process for Americans. From the very first elections, leading candidates and their supporters will rarely halt aggressive attacks, regardless of how abrasive their words are against the opposing political party. These concerns were certainly witnessed within the early republic elections as these leaders demonstrated tenacity against each other.
In 1800, Federalist President John Adams ran against his Vice President Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. Both men were Founding Fathers, they helped create the government and were dominant voices to overthrow King George III and Parliament from the Thirteen Colonies. They liked each other privately but had a difficult working relationship, where they politically clashed with each other. Adams stubbornly held onto the policy of neutrality and,
while the United States fought a naval war against the French, he refused to declare war against this nation. The passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts limited civil liberties in the United States through the fear that Europeans could push this country into another war. Adams supported the Federalist laws that were created to make it more difficult to become citizens and to oppose hostile speech against the government. Jefferson viewed these actions as running contrary against the foundations of the Revolutionary War and the newly won rights of the people.
Adams was always in a hard spot with having the difficult chore of replacing the legendary George Washington and being pitted against the popular strength of Jefferson. From his own party, Federalist Alexander Hamilton was not supportive of Adams winning a second term. There were questions about Adams' sanity and likeability as Hamilton stated, “great and intrinsic defects in his character.” Jefferson attacked Adams with the notion that he was a “hypocritical fool and tyrant.” Hit from both sides, Adams responded that if Jefferson was to win the presidency, it would lead to “Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced, the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood, and the nation black with crimes.” Adams took third place behind Jefferson and Aaron Burr, as both men tied each other with 73 votes. Adams was a lame-duck President, as Hamilton pushed
his support in Congress behind Jefferson, as he denounced Burr behind the scenes. Adams did not attend the inauguration and headed home to Massachusetts.
Fighting to win the Election of 1864, Lincoln was determined to preserve the Union under one flag. While the Union gained huge battlefield victories against the Confederates at Vicksburg and Gettysburg by July 4th, 1863, with General Ulysses S. Grant now running the war, the casualties were a huge issue for the North. By the spring of 1864, Grant started his Wilderness Campaign, and as he did not retreat from General Robert E. Lee, the losses in Virginia were horrifying. Whereas Lincoln was perhaps the greatest leader in our history, he did not believe that it was unrealistic that he could lose the Election of 1864. Against his rival, Democrat George B. McClellan, both men hated each other from their earliest days in the war. McClellan believed that Lincoln was incompetent and Lincoln unsuccessfully begged McClellan to use his large army to crush the rebellion. There were times that McClellan
“snubbed” the President, but Lincoln did not care, as long as this general used his considerable resources to defeat the Confederacy. Democrats capitalized on the cries that Lincoln poorly ran the war, was responsible for the loss of human life, and the war should not be used to end slavery.
The Northern Democrats continued to stress that there were no clear signs of victory, as the battered Confederates held on against the superior advantages of the Union forces. Grant ordered his armies to fight at the same time to present constant pressure against the South. With Union forces slugging it out towards Richmond and Petersburg and Atlanta captured by General William T. Sherman on July 22nd, 1864, there was still a question if Lincoln would win a second term. Lincoln utilized “broad executive powers” in jailing newspaper writers, never declaring war, and suspending habeas corpus. Many Democrats were also against the Emancipation Proclamation and the training and arming of black soldiers for the army. They also
pointed to the 1863 Civil War Draft Riots in New York City as evidence that northerners were tired of supporting this war and the leadership of Lincoln. But McClellan had to be prodded to fight as the Commanding General and was often at odds with Lincoln. When the President learned that he was taking his time with writing his Democratic Party acceptance speech, Lincoln stated, “I think he must be entrenching.”
McClellan refused to fully answer questions on his own political stance and was unclear if he would make a separate peace with the South. When Lincoln replaced Vice President Hannibal Hamlin with Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson, he gained additional votes from the Democrats in the border states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri). While Lincoln and Johnson had little in common and they barely knew each other, the President gained a boost to his ticket from this War Democrat. Although McClellan later supported the continuation of this war, he was not trusted, and northerners understood that victory would only be gained under the leadership of Lincoln and Grant. On Election Day, Grant allowed thousands of soldiers who were unable to cast absentee votes to go home. Through a large victory, Lincoln only lost the states of Delaware, Kentucky, and New Jersey, and while Lincoln was exhausted from the war, several months later Lee’s Army of Northern Virgina surrendered to Grant after the Battle of Appomattox.