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The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the presidential election of 1864, including manuscripts, broadsides, prints, political cartoons, sheet music, articles, and government documents. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the presidential election of 1864 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the 1864 election and a selected bibliography.
1864 Presidential Election Results [1]
Political Party |
Presidential Nominee |
VP Nominee |
Electoral College |
Popular Vote |
Republican |
Abraham Lincoln |
Andrew Johnson |
212 |
2,220,846 |
Democratic |
George B. McClellan |
George H. Pendleton |
21 |
1,809,445 |
Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography
The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consist of approximately 20,000 documents. Search the Lincoln Papers to find hundreds of items related to the 1864 presidential election.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
- Abraham Lincoln to Committee from Baltimore Convention, June 9, 1864 (Acceptance of the nomination for the presidency)
- William Dennison, et al. to Abraham Lincoln, Tuesday, June 14, 1864 (Address from committee of the Baltimore Convention)
- Abraham Lincoln to William Dennison, et al., Monday, June 27, 1864 (Acceptance of nomination)
- Abraham Lincoln, Tuesday, August 23, 1864 (Memorandum on Possibility of Not Being Reelected; endorsed by members of the cabinet)
- Salmon P. Chase to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, November 14, 1864 (Congratulations)
- Abraham Lincoln to Congress, [February 8, 1865] (Congressional resolution regarding electoral college)
The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
Alfred Whital Stern (1881-1960) of Chicago presented his outstanding collection of Lincolniana to the Library of Congress in 1953. This online release presents more than 1,300 items with more than 4,000 images and a date range of 1824-1931. It includes the complete collection of Stern's contemporary newspapers, Lincoln's law papers, sheet music, broadsides, prints, cartoons, maps, drawings, letters, campaign tickets, and other ephemeral items, including thirty-eight items related to the presidential election of 1864.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
For most of the nineteenth century, Americans learned the latest songs from printed song sheets. Not to be confused with sheet music, song sheets are single printed sheets, usually six-by-eight inches, with lyrics but no music.
- McClellan for president, by John C. Cross
- McClellan will be president. Air- "Whack! row de dow!" J. F. Feeks, 26 Ann Street, and 636 Broadway, New-York. [n. d.]
- Our "Mac" shall march to Washington. Air-"Johnny fill up the bowl." ... J. F. Feeks, 26 Ann Street, and 636 Broadway, New York
- Second coming of "Abraham." Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1864, By H. Cann, in the Clerk's office, Of the District court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. [n. p.] [c. 1864]
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection consists of published congressional records of the United States of America from 1774 to 1875. On February 8, 1865, the electoral college votes for the presidential election of 1860 were counted by a joint session of Congress and reported in the Congressional Globe, Senate Journal, and House Journal.
Civil War Sheet Music Collection
The Civil War Sheet Music Collection at the Library of Congress consists of over 2,500 pieces culled from the Library's collections, including over twenty items from the 1864 presidential election:
A selection of highlights includes:
George Brinton McClellan Papers
The papers of U.S. Army officer and governor of New Jersey George Brinton McClellan (1826-1885) consist of 33,000 items (59,477 images), most of which were digitized from 82 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1783-1898, with the bulk dating from 1850 to 1885, the collection contains correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, diaries, writings, notes, military papers, McClellan family papers, scrapbooks, printed copies of speeches, articles and books, and other papers.
Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. While the broadside format represents the bulk of the collection, there are a significant number of leaflets and some pamphlets.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
- Another life-long democrat testifies to the truth!! A patriotic letter from Dr. George B. Loring, of Salem, Mass. Support of the administration the only path to peace, unity national prosperity. The elevation of McClellan a national calamity!!
- Bradford Argus. Towanda, Pa. Thursday, October 6, 1864. For President Abraham Lincoln. For Vice President Andrew Johnson ...
- How Columbia receives McClellan's salutation from the Chicago platform. [July 1864]
- Howard County ticket. The Union forever. For President Abraham Lincoln. For Vice President Andrew Johnson. [n. p. 1864]
- Ohio Union Presidential ticket [Cut with the following words in the center, A vigorous prosecution of the war, and no compromise under the sum of rebels.] For President Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois. For Vice President Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee
- The platforms. Baltimore. The National convention which assembled at Baltimore on the 7th of last June, and there nominated Abraham Lincoln for re-election as President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice-president, adopted and presented to the America
- Regular Democratic Ticket. Ward 8. 1864 [Boston, 1864]
- The soldiers' vote. To the friends of "Lincoln and Johnson" in Pennsylvania ... Simon Cameron. Chairman Union State Central Committee. [1864]
- Why the South hopes for Lincoln's re-election. [From the Richmond Enquirer of September 5, 1864.]
Search this collection to find additional items related to the 1864 presidential election.
Chronicling America
This site allows you to search and view millions of historic American newspaper pages from 1789-1924. Search this collection to find newspaper articles about the presidential election of 1864.
A selection of articles on the 1864 presidential election includes:
- "The Press on the Nominations," Daily National Republican. (Washington, D.C.), June 11, 1864
- "McClellan Nominated at Last," Daily National Republican. (Washington, D.C.), August 31, 1864
- "The Election," Daily National Republican. (Washington, D.C.), November 9, 1864
- "Presidential Election! Abe and Andy O.K.!," White Cloud Kansas Chief. (White Cloud, Kan.), November 10, 1864
With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition
This exhibition commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the nation’s revered sixteenth president. The section Healing the Nation’s Wounds contains the following items related to the 1864 presidential election:
Pictorial Americana: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress
Pictorial Americana, a Library of Congress publication, contains a chapter listing selected images related to the 1864 presidential election.
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)
Search PPOC using the following subject headings to find additional prints, political cartoons, and other digital images related to the presidential election of 1864.
Abraham Lincoln's Classroom: Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1864
The Lincoln Institute's site contains an essay that examines Abraham Lincoln's campaign during the election of 1864.
The American Presidency Project: Election of 1864
The American Presidency Project Web site presents election results from the 1864 presidential election. This site also contains the Democratic Party Platform  and the Republican Party Platform of 1864.
HarpWeek: The Presidential Elections 1860-1912
This HarpWeek Web site features political cartoons from Harper's Weekly, Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, Vanity Fair, Puck, Judge, and American Political Prints, 1766-1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress. It provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era's major issues, and other valuable information related to the 1864 presidential election.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site: Lincoln, Grant, and the 1864 Election
Timothy P. Townsend, Historian at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, examines the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant and the events surrounding the 1864 election.
Mr. Lincoln and New York: 1864 Presidential Election
The Lincoln Institute's Web site presents an essay on the 1864 presidential election in the state of New York.
Primary Sources
Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, Held in 1864 at Chicago. Chicago: Times Steam Book and Job Printing House, 1864.
LC Call Number: JK2313 1864 [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Presidential Election, 1864. Proceedings of the National Union Convention Held in Baltimore, Md., June 7th and 8th, 1864. Reported by D.F. Murphy. New York: Baker & Godwin, Printers, 1864.
LC Call Number: JK2353 1864 [Catalog Record] [Full Text]
Secondary Sources
Long, David E. The Jewel of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln’s Re-Election and the End of Slavery. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1994.
LC Call Number: E459 .L85 1994 [Catalog Record]
Nelson, Larry E. Bullets, Ballots, and Rhetoric: Confederate Policy for the United States Presidential Contest of 1864. University: University of Alabama Press, 1980.
LC Call Number: E458.4 .N42 [Catalog Record]
Waugh, John C. Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency. New York: Crown Publishers, 1997.
LC Call Number: E458.4 .W38 1997 [Catalog Record]
Zornow, William F. Lincoln & the Party Divided. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954.
LC Call Number: E458.4 .Z6 [Catalog Record]
Vierow, Wendy. The 1864 Presidential Election: A War-Weary Nation Reelects President Abraham Lincoln. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2004.
LC Call Number: E458.4 .V54 2004 [Catalog Record]
Notes
1. Presidential Elections, 1789-2008. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010), 135, 225.
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