66: The Election of 1864: Lincoln’s Bid for Reelection

“Johnson is either drunk or crazy,”

This is the story of the fight for the presidency in 1864.

No US President since Andrew Jackson has seen a second term. Few are even nominated by their party for a second term. Will the Republicans choose Abraham Lincoln again? More to the point--will war-weary Americans voters, including moderates who disapprove of Lincoln making the abolition of slavery a war aim, choose Lincoln again?

The Democrats have a strong candidate: General George B. “Little Mac” McClellan. He might be out of the war, but he’s certainly ready to fight the man who fired him. Welcome to a presidential election amid an actual Civil War.