THE CONVENTION THAT NOMINATED LINCOLN
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON MAY 28, 1916, THE FIFTY-SIXTY ANNIVERSARY OF LINCOLN’S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY
BY P. ORMAN RAY, Ph.D.
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, ILLINOIS, IN 1916
FIRST EDITION
FINE CONDITION
Protected in a clear, archival sleeve with paperboard backing.
This original, first edition, 101-year old, antique wrap booklet presents an address on the convention that nominated Lincoln as the Republican candidate for President of the United States in 1860.
This is one of the most interesting political stories in American history. It was only the Republican party's second presidential convention, and the man everyone expected to receive the nomination was the powerful and well-known William H. Seward of New York. Abraham Lincoln, although having recently been introduced to eastern audiences through a series of political speeches in New England, and prior to that having gained some fame due to his participation in "the Great Debates" with Stephen A. Douglas, was not considered a serious contender for the appointment. How he and his political team brought him from "dark horse" contender to the victor is partly the subject of this extraordinary account.
In May 1860, the nation’s attention turned toward Chicago, where the Republicans were meeting to select their presidential candidate. William H. Seward, the Republican front-runner from New York, sent his political team to Chicago to lock up his party’s nomination. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was not considered proper for the aspiring candidate to go to the convention himself, so Seward sent his political manager, Thurlow Weed, along with his states’ 70 delegates and 13 railroad cars of supporters. The residents of Chicago were delighted to have their city of 100,000 chosen for the Republican party’s second presidential convention. At the cost of about $6,000, Republicans there built a new convention center for the occasion. Nicknamed “The Wigwam,” it had excellent acoustics and could seat more than 10,000, which purportedly would be the largest audience yet assembled in the country under one roof.
Lincoln had been busy preparing for the convention as well. Using all his political skill, he had persuaded the Illinois delegation to vote for him in a bloc. To lead the floor fight, he selected David Davis, a trusted friend, and Norman Judd, who was due most of the credit for bringing the Republican convention to Chicago. Finally, he provided them with some tactical guidance and limitations of engagement, which included an admonishment to “make no deals that bind me,” and waited in Springfield for the results.
Confident that Seward would not have enough votes to lock up the nomination on the first ballot, Lincoln intended to get the second highest vote count on the first ballot and line up additional votes for the second ballot in order to show increasing strength. He hoped that this strategy--combined with the presence of an enthusiastic band of followers on the floor--would be sufficient to win the nomination on the third or subsequent ballot.
Lincoln’s men left no detail unattended in their pursuit of this strategy. They made certain that Seward’s New Yorkers were seated far from other critical delegations with whom they might collaborate. They printed hundreds of counterfeit tickets and distributed them to Lincoln supporters with instructions to show up early--in order to displace Seward’s supporters. They also assigned two men with noted stentorian voices to lead the cheering. One of these men reportedly had a larynx powerful enough to allow his shout to be heard across Lake Michigan.
On the third day, one thousand Seward men marched behind a smartly uniformed brass band. They finally arrived triumphantly in front of the Wigwam. To their horror, they found that they could not get in: the Lincoln men, admitted with their counterfeit tickets, had taken their seats. Still, Seward had his share of support. When his name was offered in nomination, tremendous applause went up from the audience--followed by louder applause for Lincoln. The crowd quickly recognized them as the front-runners when the other candidates received less enthusiastic commendation. When Seward’s name was seconded, the demonstration was so vociferous that “hundreds of persons stopped their ears in pain.” But when Lincoln’s nomination was seconded, the uproar was “beyond description.”
Leonard Swett, a friend of Lincoln’s, said that “Five thousand people leaped to their seats, women not wanting, and the wild yell made vesper breathings of all that had preceded. A thousand steam whistles, ten acres of hotel gongs, a tribe of Comanches might have mingled in the scene unnoticed.”
This booklet presents the full account of this tremendous story.
This original, first edition, antique booklet is in excellent condition. It is clean and tight. The exterior warp has some light rubbing but is in excellent overall condition. There isn’t a mark in the booklet, but there is a tiny prior-owner name in the upper corner of the front inside cover. the pages are clean and in excellent condition. The booklet is illustrated. 38 pages. The booklet is protected in a clear, acid-free, archival sleeve with paperboard backing. An excellent condition, first edition booklet.
THE CONVENTION THAT NOMINATED LINCOLN
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON MAY 28, 1916, THE FIFTY-SIXTY ANNIVERSARY OF LINCOLN’S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY
BY P. ORMAN RAY, Ph.D.
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, ILLINOIS, IN 1916 FIRST EDITION
FINE CONDITION
Protected in a clear, archival sleeve with paperboard backing.
This original, first edition, 101-year old, antique wrap booklet presents an address on the convention that nominated Lincoln as the Republican candidate for President of the United States in 1860.
This is one of the most interesting political stories in American history. It was only the Republican party's second presidential convention, and the man everyone expected to receive the nomination was the powerful and well-known William H. Seward of New York. Abraham Lincoln, although having recently been introduced to eastern audiences through a series of political speeches in New England, and prior to that having gained some fame due to his participation in "the Great Debates" with Stephen A. Douglas, was not considered a serious contender for the appointment. How he and his political team brought him from "dark horse" contender to the victor is partly the subject of this extraordinary account.
In May 1860, the nation’s attention turned toward Chicago, where the Republicans were meeting to select their presidential candidate. William H. Seward, the Republican front-runner from New York, sent his political team to Chicago to lock up his party’s nomination. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was not considered proper for the aspiring candidate to go to the convention himself, so Seward sent his political manager, Thurlow Weed, along with his states’ 70 delegates and 13 railroad cars of supporters. The residents of Chicago were delighted to have their city of 100,000 chosen for the Republican party’s second presidential convention. At the cost of about $6,000, Republicans there built a new convention center for the occasion. Nicknamed “The Wigwam,” it had excellent acoustics and could seat more than 10,000, which purportedly would be the largest audience yet assembled in the country under one roof.
Lincoln had been busy preparing for the convention as well. Using all his political skill, he had persuaded the Illinois delegation to vote for him in a bloc. To lead the floor fight, he selected David Davis, a trusted friend, and Norman Judd, who was due most of the credit for bringing the Republican convention to Chicago. Finally, he provided them with some tactical guidance and limitations of engagement, which included an admonishment to “make no deals that bind me,” and waited in Springfield for the results.
Confident that Seward would not have enough votes to lock up the nomination on the first ballot, Lincoln intended to get the second highest vote count on the first ballot and line up additional votes for the second ballot in order to show increasing strength. He hoped that this strategy--combined with the presence of an enthusiastic band of followers on the floor--would be sufficient to win the nomination on the third or subsequent ballot.
Lincoln’s men left no detail unattended in their pursuit of this strategy. They made certain that Seward’s New Yorkers were seated far from other critical delegations with whom they might collaborate. They printed hundreds of counterfeit tickets and distributed them to Lincoln supporters with instructions to show up early--in order to displace Seward’s supporters. They also assigned two men with noted stentorian voices to lead the cheering. One of these men reportedly had a larynx powerful enough to allow his shout to be heard across Lake Michigan.
On the third day, one thousand Seward men marched behind a smartly uniformed brass band. They finally arrived triumphantly in front of the Wigwam. To their horror, they found that they could not get in: the Lincoln men, admitted with their counterfeit tickets, had taken their seats. Still, Seward had his share of support. When his name was offered in nomination, tremendous applause went up from the audience--followed by louder applause for Lincoln. The crowd quickly recognized them as the front-runners when the other candidates received less enthusiastic commendation. When Seward’s name was seconded, the demonstration was so vociferous that “hundreds of persons stopped their ears in pain.” But when Lincoln’s nomination was seconded, the uproar was “beyond description.”
Leonard Swett, a friend of Lincoln’s, said that “Five thousand people leaped to their seats, women not wanting, and the wild yell made vesper breathings of all that had preceded. A thousand steam whistles, ten acres of hotel gongs, a tribe of Comanches might have mingled in the scene unnoticed.”
This booklet presents the full account of this tremendous story.
This original, first edition, antique booklet is in excellent condition. It is clean and tight. The exterior warp has some light rubbing but is in excellent overall condition. There isn’t a mark in the booklet, but there is a tiny prior-owner name in the upper corner of the front inside cover. the pages are clean and in excellent condition. The booklet is illustrated. 38 pages. The booklet is protected in a clear, acid-free, archival sleeve with paperboard backing. An excellent condition, first edition booklet.
