Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 Campaign
"Woodchopper of the West"
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States,
serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln was considered the
underdog when he ran for President because he was a newcomer to politics and
lacked experience. However, his message was plain and simple: preserve the
Union at all costs, even if it meant going to war. He defeated the southern
Democratic nominee John C. Breckinridge, the Democratic nominee Stephen A. Douglas,
and the Constitutional Union nominee John Bell in the 1860 election because
of his effective campaign strategies.
Marcus
Cicero, a Roman philosopher, wrote a letter over 2000 years ago to his brother
who was running for office. In Cicero’s letter, he told his brother in order to
win the election; he must secure the support of his friends and win over the
general public. In order to do so, he gave his brother many recommendations
ranging from adapting to each person he met by changing his expression and
speech when necessary to sticking to vague generalities when describing his
agenda. Cicero’s campaign techniques are still being practiced in politics
today. Abraham Lincoln’s campaign subconsciously followed Cicero’s advice, resulting
in his nomination by an electoral landslide. Stephen A. Douglas, John C.
Breckinridge, and John Bell, on the other hand, ran terrible, boring campaigns
that lacked the passion and freshness the Lincoln campaign possessed. John C.
Breckinridge only gave a handful of speeches. John Bell gave vague speeches
that did not offer solutions to the growing resentment between the North and
the South. Stephen A. Douglas’ speeches focused more on uniting the fractured
Democratic Party than trying to win over Northern votes.
Abraham Lincoln was fifty-one, a newcomer to national politics and had no political
foes when he ran for office. This was Lincoln’s first step in the right
direction to win the election. Cicero stated in his letter that the more
enemies you make, the less chance you have of winning. Lincoln was skillful in
debate. As a self made man, he appealed to common people in the West. Cicero also pointed out that appealing to the hoi polloi
greatly benefits the candidate because if voters feel they can connect with the
candidate and not feel the candidate is only on the side of the extremely
wealthy, they would be more likely to support that candidate. Lincoln himself
decided not to write or make any points on specific doctrine lest his opponents
distort his remarks. Lincoln greatly benefited from this because Stephen A.
Douglas was unable to successfully attack Lincoln on any of his policies.
In the 1860 election, Abraham
Lincoln’s most valuable campaign technique was candidate image. Lincoln
appealed to many different voters, especially the common man. One day, a news
reporter went to Lincoln’s home in Illinois and reported what he saw as a
“magnificent spectacle.” The reporter wrote, “There stood Honest Old Abe in his
shirt sleeves, a pair of leather home-made suspenders holding up a pair of home-made
pantaloons, the seat of which was neatly patched. ” This reporter portrayed
Lincoln as a true American. Lincoln was also a rail-splitter, and this helped to
promote his image as a tough American who could take on the challenge of
preserving the Union.
One of the many
reasons Stephen A. Douglas lost to Abraham Lincoln was because of the
desperation Douglas showed during his campaign. Douglas was the first
presidential candidate in American history to make a nationwide tour in person,
an act not traditionally done at the time. Lincoln, who stayed with campaign tradition,
stayed at home in Springfield and received delegates who came to pay their
respect. Many
newspapers began to notice Douglas’ desperation. The Illinois Gazette even
said, “There is Douglas strolling around the country begging for votes like a
town constable.” At one point during Douglas’ campaign, he said he was going to
New York to visit his mother. However, instead of going straight to New York,
Douglas campaigned for weeks heading north to New York, making countless
speeches along the way, begging for votes. This act was met with harsh
criticism, mainly because campaigning around the country was considered disrespectful
at the time. Douglas created many enemies during his political career leading
up to the 1860 election, having a detrimental effect on his campaign. Douglas
also failed to unite his party, which ended up in two Democrats running for
office. This also helped Lincoln achieve victory.
Although
modern technology has greatly impacted the way campaigns reach out to voters,
Cicero’s key successful campaign elements are constantly being used in American
presidential campaigns. Most importantly, Cicero mentioned a candidate must
focus on the major issues impacting the people at the time. He must convince
the people that he knows exactly how to get out of whatever mess the country is
in a way that will benefit the nation as a whole. When the country is doing
well economically, the leader has to convince the people that he can continue
the forward movement of prosperity. If the time in that nation’s history is one
of great suffering, the candidate must convince the people that he can pull
them out from suffering and into prosperity. Lastly, a successful candidate has
to appeal to a broad range of people because many people tend to elect the man
who they can trust as someone who will bring of prosperity and safety.
In
the end, Lincoln’s simple message of preserving the Union backed up by his
extremely effective candidate image resulted in his victory. In his acceptance
speech, Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe
this government cannot endure,
permanently half slave and half free." Lincoln won by more than 450,000
votes over the second place candidate, Stephen A. Douglas.
Bibliography
Boller, Paul
F., Jr. Presidential Campaigns. New
York City, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Woolley,
John, and Gerhard Peters. "Election of 1860." In American Presidency
Project. Last modified 1999. Accessed October 9, 2012.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1860
Project. Last modified 1999. Accessed October 9, 2012.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1860
American Government, s.v. "1860 Republican Party
campaign banner," Image, Library of Congress, accessed October 10, 2012. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/870147?terms=Lincoln
American Government, s.v. "Abraham Lincoln,"
accessed October 10, 2012. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/196573?terms=Lincoln
American Government, s.v. "Abraham Lincoln,"
Image, Library of Congress, accessed October 10, 2012. http://americangovernment.abcclio.com/Search/Display/198409?terms=Lincoln
