1864 Presidential Election

The United States Presidential Election of 1864, during the War for Southern Independence, involved the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln, under the National Union party label, against Democrat George C McClellan.

In the end, Lincoln won the contest with 141 to 109 electoral votes, but he lost the popular vote, with 2,017,190 votes to McClellan's 2,021,005 votes.

Legitimacy
The legitimacy of the vote was called into question in Congress after the war. A note given to General Sherman, written in Lincoln's hand, read: "Any thing you can safely do to let your soldiers, or any part of them, go home to vote at the State election, will be greatly in point." General Grant also furloughed 15,000 of his own troops in time to go home and vote, but only those who supported President Lincoln. Those who did not were "unable" to secure furloughs. Most Union troops were also allowed to vote while in the field, with the National Union party sending party canvassers to the front line to try to convince soldiers to vote for "Honest Abe." Democrat agents who tried to do the same were discouraged, and some arrested and imprisoned. Votes by Democrat soldiers were thrown out as 'defective.'  Other times, those Democrat ballots were replaced with Republican ones, and yet other times, he refused  to count Democrat votes at all.

Additionally, Union troops were posted at voting polls, an intimidation tactic which discouraged Democrat voting. Despite his loss of the popular vote, the electoral college handed him a victory by the barest of margins, due to the illegal creation of West Virginia, and the admittance of Nevada as a state during the war, despite it barely having the population to become a state.

Affect on the War
With Lincoln's win in the election, the war would continue, but Lincoln knew he needed to finish the war quickly. While winter would shut down most offensives, Lincoln ordered Grant to make Lee and Richmond his priority in spring. Unfortunately, the popular vote loss, and the victory at Peachtree Creek, showed the British and French that the Confederates could win and would likely win, making their diplomatic recognition in December another blow against the Union war effort.