![]() ![]() When Lincoln left Illinois and headed east for his inauguration, he told the crowd at the Springfield railroad station that he confronted challenges equal only to those that had faced the nation’s first president: Washington had had to create a nation Lincoln now had to preserve it. Thousands of Lincoln votes by soldier-citizens were one key to his victory. Despite his doubts, Lincoln accomplished a huge Electoral College victory, with a considerable margin of 55 percent of the popular vote as well. Even when Lincoln felt he had no hope to win, he never seriously considered postponing the election. Four years later, in 1864-in the midst of civil war-the United States held another presidential election, a feat that no other democratic nation had ever accomplished. Lincoln’s win in the heavily populated North achieved victory in the Electoral College. Ultimately, Lincoln carried all northern states but New Jersey. A Republican win would end the South’s political dominance of the Union. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Artīy the spring of 1860, Lincoln was running against a deeply divided Democratic Party, positioning the nation on the brink of fundamental change. ![]()
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