Grant was favored to win the presidential nomination. He was a Civil War hero. When the Republicans met to choose a candidate, he was unopposed.
Grant was nominated on the first ballot. The vote was unanimous. Schuyler Colfax was nominated for vice president.
The Democrats
The Democrats had several candidates for the presidential nomination. The major candidates were President Andrew Johnson, Salmon Chase, and Winfield Hancock. Horatio Seymour was not a candidate. He was a former governor of New York. He chaired the Democrats' convention in 1868.
None of the Democratic candidates seemed likely to win the general election. President Johnson had been impeached. Chase was not trusted. He had claimed to be a Republican during the Civil War. (He was chief justice of the Supreme Court.) Hancock was political dynamite. As a military governor in the South, he had been lax in enforcing Reconstruction. Democrats feared he would ignite passions on both sides of the race issue.
When the voting began, no candidate had a majority. Seymour's name was placed in nomination on the 4th ballot. After 21 ballots, he was nominated by acclamation. Francis Blair, Jr. was nominated for vice president. He was a former Union Army commander.
The General Election Campaign
Republicans adopted the vague theme: "Let us have peace." General Grant refused to campaign. He made a nonpolitical tour of the West. By not campaigning, Grant avoided discussing black voting rights. (The Fifteenth Amendment was pending in Congress. It prohibited states from denying blacks the right to vote. The Republican platform promised voting rights to blacks in the South. Black suffrage elsewhere in the country was not mentioned.)
At first, Seymour did not campaign. He sent Blair to speak on his behalf. But Blair alienated many voters with his pro-southern views. Seymour finally campaigned himself. By then, there was little he could do. Republicans reminded northern voters that many Democrats supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Seymour could not overcome the charges of treason. President Johnson endorsed Seymour. His endorsement made matters worse for the Democrats.
The Election Results
Grant defeated Seymour by more than 300,000 popular votes. He won 214 electoral votes and carried 26 states. Seymour won 80 electoral votes and carried 8 states. (Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas did not report a vote.)
Liberal Republicans disliked the conservative Grant's administration. (They called his policies "Grantism.") They formed their own party and nominated their own ticket. Charles Frances Adams and Horace Greeley were candidates for the nomination. Adams was the youngest son of JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Greeley was a New York publisher. (Greeley founded the New Yorker magazine in 1834. He also founded the New York Tribune in 1841.)
Greeley defeated Adams on the 6th ballot. The vice presidential nominee was B. Gratz Brown of Missouri.
The Democrats
Democrats were still plagued by their association with the Confederacy. They wanted to avoid renewed charges of treason. They did not nominate a presidential candidate. But they sensed a chink in Grant's armor. The Democrats joined the coalition supporting Horace Greeley. He was the liberal Republican candidate for president.
The General Election Campaign
As the fall campaign began, Grant's first administration had been riddled with scandal. But he was heavily favored to win reelection. Greeley was hurt by his coalition with the Democrats. Most voters wanted to forget the Civil War. The violence of the Ku Klux Klan in the South became a national issue. Voters were again reminded of the divisions in the country. They would not elect a Democrat president.
The Election Results
Grant defeated Greeley by more than 760,000 votes. He won 286 electoral votes and carried 29 states. Greeley died on November 29, 1872. The electoral college had not met. But Greeley won the equivalent of 63 or 66 electoral votes. He carried 6 states. (Grant won 56 percent popular vote. His margin was the same as ANDREW JACKSON's victory in 1828.)
Wilson was born Jeremiah Jones Colbath. He later changed his name to Henry Wilson. He had a long history of opposing slavery. Wilson began his political career as a Whig. In 1848, he helped found the Free-Soil Party. He later joined the American (Know-Nothing) Party. He joined the Republican Party after it became the antislavery party. Vice President Wilson died in office in 1875.
