SURPRISE CANDIDATE

Chicago, Illinois.

The “Wigwam”—a new, large convention building—has been filling with excited men all morning. Although it’s just after 9 a.m., thousands are inside, waiting to cast ballots to select the Republican Party’s nominee for president. Many more wait outside for news. In all, forty thousand people have come to Chicago for the convention.

Four men are in the running. None of the experts believe Lincoln is the first choice of the majority. Lincoln doesn’t either. But knowing what he does about the other candidates, and about the party members who are voting, he believes he has a chance.

FOUR WINDS

The slavery issue has split many people from their old allegiances and led them to this new Republican Party. “Of strange, discordant, and even, hostile elements,” Lincoln has said, “we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought the battle through.”

Lincoln’s three rivals are New York Governor William H. Seward, Senator Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and former Congressman Edward Bates of Missouri. In keeping with the practice of the time, none of the four are actually in Chicago. Each has a campaign manager in Chicago. Lincoln is back home in Springfield, Illinois, about two hundred miles away. The other three candidates—each of whom is very confident of winning—are also in their home states.

Inside the Wigwam during the convention

Seward is the front-runner. A fiery orator, more than once he has announced his belief that a war over the slave question is inevitable. However, he’s more moderate than many of his critics imagine. He’s a practical politician who understands compromise.

Of all the candidates, Chase is the most committed to the immediate abolition of slavery everywhere. His state, Ohio, which, like Lincoln’s Illinois, is a gateway to the West, has been a battleground in the slavery fight for many years. Chase has energetically used his great knowledge of law and politics to fight slavery’s extension and to protect the rights of fugitive slaves.

The four main rivals at the 1860 Republican convention in Chicago. Clockwise from top left: Lincoln, the choice of moderates and the many local activists; Salmon P. Chase, the most radical opponent of slavery; William H. Seward, who was backed by a political machine with great influence; and Edward Bates, another moderate.

Bates is the oldest of the candidates. Because he hasn’t been involved in the most recent political battles that led to the creation of the party, and because his views are moderate, his supporters believe he’s the best man to unite the different elements of the party.

Then there’s Lincoln. His fighting spirit in the 1858 campaign against Stephen Douglas earned him supporters far beyond his home state of Illinois. About three months before the opening day of this convention, fifteen hundred people came to hear him speak at The Cooper Union, a college in New York City. His electrifying speech announced his belief that the proslavery South wanted to “destroy the government [of the United States]” unless it could interpret the Constitution as it pleased. The next day, the New York papers were full of praise for him, and he was asked to speak throughout the northeast of the country.

SECOND AMONG EQUALS

Going into the convention, Lincoln and his campaign manager, David Davis, have a simple strategy: Try to convince the supporters of each of the other candidates that Lincoln is the best second choice. They understand their opponents well. Seward and Chase have been fighting for the top position for so long that the supporters of each have built up a personal distaste for the other side. Although Bates appears to be a safe alternative to Seward or Chase, he proves there is such a thing as too safe: He hasn’t distinguished himself with strong, clear positions as Lincoln has.

Lincoln’s strategy begins to succeed after just the first round of voting: Seward 173 1/2; Lincoln 102; Chase 49; Bates 48. Lincoln is the alternative to Seward. By the second ballot, Lincoln’s 181 votes are nearly equal to Seward’s 184 1/2. By the third ballot, Lincoln has closed the gap to 11/2 votes—and when that figure is announced, a representative from Ohio stands up to announce that the last few holdouts for Chase will switch to Lincoln, eliminating the need for another round. The least likely candidate had won. When the news was announced outside the Wigwam, the mob, estimated to be between twenty thousand and thirty thousand people, began an all-night party. Within minutes, the news was telegraphed to Springfield and another celebration began there.

TEAMWORK

Naturally, Lincoln’s rivals were unhappy. Seward and Chase were crushed, angry, and resentful. Bates was disappointed and perplexed. Each imagined himself to be superior to Lincoln in intelligence and ability. Seward and Chase began to think ahead to the next presidential election, four years away. None of them understood Lincoln’s ability to bring together people of different opinions and temperaments. He proved his skill, however, by beating all opponents and winning the national election in November. Almost immediately, Lincoln offered important cabinet posts to his rivals. Seward became secretary of state. Chase became secretary of the treasury. Bates became Attorney General. (A potential rival who had stepped aside before the voting began, Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, became Secretary of War.)

Lincoln’s determination to put the best available person in each job, and to allow different opinions to exist in his government, was initially misunderstood by some people as a sign of weakness. Seward arrogantly suggested that Lincoln remain merely a figurehead, a symbol, and let Seward actually run the government. But Lincoln soon proved he was strong enough to corral these big egos. It wasn’t long before Seward above all the rest became deeply devoted to Lincoln. He made it a point to tell friends that he and everyone else who had underestimated Lincoln’s greatness had been profoundly mistaken.

Lincoln was such an unknown that his name was misspelled on some campaign posters. His running mate, Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was selected for him by the delegates to the convention.