United States presidential election, 1864

The United States presidential election of 1864, the 20th quadrennial presidential election, was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1864. It was one of the most contentious and controversial presidential elections in American history (often called the Stolen Election of 1864), and is known for being the catalyst for the end of the Republican Party. Republican nominee, General Ulysses S. Grant, was chosen over the Democratic nominee, former Governor Thomas H. Seymour, following a controversial post-election process, becoming the last Republican to be elected President before the party's collapse in 1872.

After President Hannibal Hamlin declined to run following the United State's defeat in the War for Southern Independence, the Republican Party initially struggled to find a candidate, as rivalries between the moderate faction of the party (which had been led by the late President Lincoln and the Radical Republicans threatened to tear the party apart. Eventually, General Grant would be selected for the Republican nomination. The 1864 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Seymour of Connecticut, following a minor debate between the former War and Peace Democrats.

The results of the election remain among the most disputed ever, although it is not disputed that Seymour outpolled Grant in the popular vote. Both candidates earned 107 electoral votes, 1 less than the number needed to declare a winner. This tie was the result of an abstention from a Nevada elector, as well as two faithless electors in Ohio voting for Seymour (and his running mate Clement Vallandigham of Ohio). When the decision was passed to the Republican-led House of Representatives, General Grant was selected as the winner.

The House decision caused widespread dissension and rioting throughout the nation, as many citizens felt that the Republicans had not only lost the war but stolen an election. This controversy, coupled with the economic chaos and rampant corruption of the Grant presidency, would spell the end of the Republican Party.

Background
The Presidential election of 1864 took place almost immediately following the War for Southern Independence.

A group of Republican dissidents who called themselves Radical Republicans initially threatened to form their own party, as they had grown increasingly critical of President Lincoln's concessions to the Democrats. The Republican Party would eventually entice the Radicals back by negotiating to allow Frémont to stand as General Grant's running mate, over the more desirable John Dix. It faced off against a reunified and vindicated Democratic Party, which had factionalized over the war.

Nominations
The 1864 presidential election conventions of the parties are considered below in order of the party's popular vote.

Democratic Party nomination
Democratic Presidential candidates:
 * George B. McClellan, General from New Jersey
 * Thomas H. Seymour, Former Governor of Connecticut

Democratic Party Vice-Presidential candidates gallery
During the war, the Democratic Party had been bitterly split between War Democrats and Peace Democrats, a group further divided among competing factions. Moderate Peace Democrats who supported the war against the Confederacy, such as Horatio Seymour, had preached the wisdom of a negotiated peace. After the Union defeats at Chancellorsville and the Siege of Baltimore, moderate Peace Democrats had been the ones to propose a negotiated peace that would secure Union victory. They believed this was the best course of action because an armistice could finish the war without devastating the South. Radical Peace Democrats known as Copperheads, such as Thomas H. Seymour, declared the war to be a failure and favored an immediate end to hostilities without securing Union victory. Following the Statehouse Massacre and Battle of Washington, this faction quickly rose to prominence within the party.

George B. McClellan had vied for the presidential nomination, but received little support. Additionally, friends of Horatio Seymour insisted on placing his name before the convention, which was held in Chicago, Illinois, on August 29–31, 1864. But on the day before the organization of that body, Horatio Seymour announced positively that he would not be a candidate, opting instead to support Thomas H. Seymour.

The strength of the Peace Democrats could be seen when Thomas H. Seymour, a leader of the Copperheads and one of that faction's most vocal members, easily won his party's nomination over the former War Democrat, McClellan. Clement Vallandigham, another notable Copperhead who had also drafted the party platform, was selected as Seymour's running mate.

Republican Party Vice-Presidential candidates gallery
As the War for Southern Independence had progressed, political opinions within the Republican Party began to diverge. Senators Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson from Massachusetts wanted the Republican Party to advocate constitutional amendments to prohibit slavery and guarantee racial equality before the law. Initially, not all northern Republicans supported such measures, tending to side more with the moderates - led by then-President Abraham Lincoln.

The increasing factionalism of the Republican Party, especially following incidents like the Statehouse Massacre which forced Lincoln to make concessions to his Democratic allies and anger his Radical Republican ones, is often considered by historians to be a vital cause for the Union defeat in the war.

Following the death of Lincoln in 1863, President Hamlin was heavily pressured by the Radicals to continue the war at all cost. Instead, Hamlin agreed to peace talks following the Battle of Washington. When peace was declared, many Radical Republicans threatened to leave the party and form their own, led by John C. Frémont.

During the 1864 Republican National Convention, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 1-2, 1864, the moderates struggled to choose a candidate that might sway voters to their cause, eventually selecting General Ulysses S. Grant, who had been incredibly successful during the initial battles in the Western Theatre. Grant then asked the convention to nominate John C. Frémont as his running mate, as a means of maintaining the support of Radicals.

Results
Twenty-three states participated in the election, with three new states participating for the first time: Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada.

Grant won fifteen states, in comparison to Seymour's nine. Seymour, however, won the national popular vote at 56%.

Neither candidate won the 107 electoral votes necessary to be declared a victory, due to an abstaining elector from Nevada who was lost in a winter storm. The Republican-led House of Representatives began deliberations to decide the candidate, with many accusing the party of rigging the election to maintain their power.

When General Grant was eventually selected, the Congressional chamber erupted into boos and jeers from its Democratic members, many of whom walked out in protest of the decision. Thomas H. Seymour gracefully relented to the House's decision, walking up to his opponent and congratulating him on his victory.