Lincoln's Rise to Political Leadership

Tim Cronin
All Saints Academy, Breese

Abraham Lincoln, now a world-renowned American historical figure, was at one time considered unfit to lead his country. Lincoln's rise to the top was difficult. His political life was a struggle. From his first lost election, to his presidential win, Honest Abe was truly underrated.

Lincoln began his political life at a young age. He ran for his first office in 1832, but it was not until 1834 that he was elected to the Illinois legislature. By 1849 he had held four consecutive terms in the legislature and a term in the U.S. Congress.

By 1854 Abe was beginning to lose interest in politics, and for a time he had decided not to run for any political office. Instead, he helped to organize campaigns for fellow Whigs. However, when the Missouri Compromise, banning slavery, was repealed, his interest in politics was aroused once more. He opposed slavery and blamed Stephen A. Douglas for "blowing off the lid" with his popular scheme of allowing the people of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the status of slavery in their own state. This legislation was known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Protective of justice for individuals, the Kansas-Nebraska law set Lincoln afire. He once expressed his views with these words: "It is wrong, wrong in its effect, letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska—and wrong in its principle, allowing it to spread to every other part of the wide world, where men can be inclined to take it."

An ambitious politician, Lincoln was not afraid to say what was on his mind. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act became law, he decided to jump back into the political arena. In 1854 he ran for and easily won a spot in the Illinois General Assembly. However, he soon concluded that he could make even more of a difference by running for the United States Senate. In 1855 he resigned his state position. He sought but failed to gain the Senate seat.

After losing that election, Lincoln began to reconsider his choice of party. Realizing the Whig Party was losing power, he needed to find another affiliation. Even as a member of the Whig Party, he was accused of being a part of the new Anti-Catholic, Anti-Foreigner, Know-Nothing party. Lincoln vehemently stated, "I am not a Know-Nothing . . . that is certain. How can anyone who abhors the oppression of black people, be in favor of degrading classes of white people?"

In early 1856 Abraham Lincoln decided to join the Republican Party, a new political party in Illinois. The main objective of the party was to keep Democrat James Buchanan from winning the presidency. Buchanan won nonetheless.

June 16, 1858, could be called the most important day in Lincoln's career, when he was nominated by the Illinois State Republican Convention to run against Stephen Douglas for the United States Senate. Douglas, fearing Lincoln's oratorical abilities, knew that he faced a considerable challenge.

On July 24 Lincoln proposed seven joint debates to be held around the state. These debates confirmed the real differences between the Republicans and the Democrats. While Douglas took a middle-of-the-road view on slavery, Lincoln used the Declaration of Independence to help the American people understand that slavery was an evil in all aspects of society. No matter how unpopular, he made it clear that he wanted to win the election "without betraying the anti-slavery cause."

Many thought that the debates resulted in a

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draw. Although Lincoln lost to Douglas on election day in 1858, he had proven his enormous potential as a national figure. Immediately his name was discussed as a candidate for the presidency in 1860.

At first Lincoln let the talk of his presidency continue, thinking it would make another run at a seat in the Senate easier. He did not expect to be nominated. However, with a month left before the Republican National Convention, Lincoln realized that his nomination was within reach.

On May 16, 1859, in Chicago, the three-day Republican Convention began. Although Lincoln was one of three serious candidates, he was not expected to be nominated. The anticipated winner was William Seward. He and Edward Bates were Lincoln's only real opposition.

On Friday morning the voting began. When the first ballot came in, Seward was far in the lead, as expected, and was only sixty votes shy of a win. The unbelievable fact was that Lincoln had gained 102 votes. He picked up even more on the second ballot. Bates slipped badly, but Seward still seemed to be in the lead by a small margin. On the third and final ballot, the Ohio voters joined Lincoln's side. Lincoln had won the nomination. Realizing this, he announced that he was a very happy man. Who could help being so under such circumstances?

The summer of 1860 was spent planning his campaign strategy to outwit his opponents, Stephen Douglas, John Bell, and John Breckinridge. If Lincoln would stay quiet and let the Democrats split their party's votes, it would assure him a victory. By midnight on election day it was clear that their strategy had worked, and Abe had been elected the new president.

Throughout Lincoln's life he had wanted to leave a legacy. Fighting to make a permanent mark in history, he worked for the honor of all men and never lost sight of his own principles.—[From Mark E. Neely, The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia; Earl Miers, The Emancipation Proclamation, David Herbert Donald, Lincoln; Philip B. Kunhard,Jr., Lincoln.]

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