In the summer of 1864, during the crisis of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was facing a reelection campaign. The political and military conditions of the Union were dire. Lincoln did not think he would win reelection. He wrote out the following and sealed it in an envelope, asking his Cabinet members to sign the back, the contents unseen my them:
This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will by my duty to so cooperate with the Government President elect, as to save the Union between the Election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards.
Wow — was this before or after the Dems nominated (still active duty) Gen. George McClellan?
I’m not sure which would have upset Lincoln more because while he had issues with McClellan, he at least wasn’t a copperhead. The draft was becoming increasingly unpopular (not unlike Vietnam) with instead of going to college (or Canada), the wealthy could avoid the draft by paying $200 (about $5,600 today) for a substitute.
If McClellan had been elected, he’ll have been in the same situation as Gerald Ford was in 1975 when Saigon fell. There’s a lot contained in that second sentence.
This letter also explains why Lincoln replaced Hannibal Hamlin with Andrew Johnson for his re-election. I think we’d have been a lot better off if he hadn’t — Hamlin was more of a robber baron than anything else and I think that Reconstruction would have gone a lot better with him.