Clash of American Titans - Lincoln vs Grant

5fish

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It is the election year 1868 and in the field of Candidates is Lincoln and Grant are both running for the office of President.

I ask "What if" Lincoln had lived and ran for a third term as President in 1868 but Grant chooses to run for President as well. Who would you have support in this epic Clash of American Titans for President?

Would the fight for political power have been played out within the Republican party convention of 1868?

Would Grant have run against Lincoln in the general election of 1868?

Grant was the man who won the war and defeat the great Bobby Lee. As President he could have won a third term but it was the republican party that had tried of him not the public.

Lincoln was our leader and soul of our nation in the war but could the Reconstruction years have soiled his image by 1868, if he had lived. Plus, he would have been breaking the standard of two terms set by Washington.

I ask who would you have supported in 1868 if Lincoln and Grant had face off for the Presidency of the United States of America?

Who do you think would have won between these two men in this epic Clash of American Titans? ?

A penny for our thoughts....
 
This scenario is playing out right now in the nation of Sri Lanka as I write these words. The Prime minster(lead the war effort during the Civil War last years) won the election and it seems the General(led the army to victory) is now trying to flee to India. Got to love the Third World.

This board with all those members with their harden opinions can not voice itself. One must pick Lincoln or Grant???
 
Would Grant have run against Lincoln in the general election of 1868?
No, they were both Republicans.
I ask who would you have supported in 1868 if Lincoln and Grant had face off for the Presidency of the United States of America?
Lincoln. Grant is awesome but there's nothing that would make me think he would be more suited for the presidency than Lincoln. I think reconstruction would have been far more smooth if Lincoln had not been assassinated, too.
Who do you think would have won between these two men in this epic Clash of American Titans?
Lincoln.
 
It is the election year 1868 and in the field of Candidates is Lincoln and Grant are both running for the office of President.

I ask "What if" Lincoln had lived and ran for a third term as President in 1868 but Grant chooses to run for President as well. Who would you have support in this epic Clash of American Titans for President?

Would the fight for political power have been played out within the Republican party convention of 1868?

Would Grant have run against Lincoln in the general election of 1868?

Grant was the man who won the war and defeat the great Bobby Lee. As President he could have won a third term but it was the republican party that had tried of him not the public.

Lincoln was our leader and soul of our nation in the war but could the Reconstruction years have soiled his image by 1868, if he had lived. Plus, he would have been breaking the standard of two terms set by Washington.

I ask who would you have supported in 1868 if Lincoln and Grant had face off for the Presidency of the United States of America?

Who do you think would have won between these two men in this epic Clash of American Titans? ?

A penny for our thoughts....





As much as I admire both of those men, I'd rather see Lincoln in the white house, and Grant in charge of the Army. Lincoln had a brilliant mind - was strong and compassionate as a leader. Grant's Strength war tactics and strategy. He was a genius in the field. Probably the best General this County has ever seen. So my vote would still go to Lincoln.
 
We'd first have to assume that Lincoln would have wanted a third term. I don't think he'd want it. Four years drained him. Another four would have likely killed him if Booth hadn't intervened.

And I don't see Grant as an enthusiastic campaigner for the job.

Just my pennies.

Ole
 
It depends on how the years 1865-68 went. If Reconstruction was going smoothly, Lincoln likely would have won; had it been going poorly, Grant may have been the favorite. It's not too different than the 1864 contest, when the military situation dictated the nation's mood and Union success in Atlanta may have greatly aided Lincoln's election.

(But I agree with ole- if Lincoln survived the second term, I believe he would have wanted to move on with his life. I know he hoped to travel to Europe, and maybe to California, with Mary.)
 
I agree with captainrlm, Lincoln would probably have been like George Washington. Washington didn't want more than two terms (though he served three) because he wanted to be able to spend more time with his wife and family. After the trial of the Civil War, I think that Lincoln might have just wanted to do the same thing, get out of politics for a while and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
 
I do not think Lincoln would have left office if he felt the job of Reconstruction was unfinished. I could picture him thinking he got our nation into it and he feel responsibility to see it through to the end.

If Grant had run in the 1868 election, I think it would have been a knock down drag out fight at the Republican convention between the two. If Lincoln had won, Grant would have been offered the VP job. If Grant had won, Lincoln would have returned to Illinois and the issue who would have been Grant's VP..

I do not think Grant would have run as an independent in the election if he had lost at the convention or switch to the Democratic party to run against Lincoln.

Grant was consider a conservative within the republican Party in the early years of Reconstruction and supported Johnson handling of it at first. He was slow to move away form him but Johnson mishandle his relations with Grant, forcing him to become one of his detractor.

A thought...

I would most likely have been a Lincoln supporter in 1868 if he had choose run again...
 
Interesting opinions. I really don't know what I think. For one thing I feel that if Lincoln was not assinated reconstruction would have gone much more smoothly, and in all likelyhood would have been concluded by 1868. And I agree with Ole that another 4 years would have killed him.

As far as Grant is concerned, he never wanted to be president in the first place, so I find it hard to believe that he would have run against Lincoln. Certainly I agree with 5fish that Grant would not have run as an Indepedant.
 
I agree with captainrlm, Lincoln would probably have been like George Washington. Washington didn't want more than two terms (though he served three) because he wanted to be able to spend more time with his wife and family. After the trial of the Civil War, I think that Lincoln might have just wanted to do the same thing, get out of politics for a while and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Pardon me, but what do you mean that Washington served 3 terms? Are you refering to his 2 as President of the USA and 1 term as President of the Constitutional Convention in 1787? Or do you refer to something else?

Thank you
 
It is the election year 1868 and in the field of Candidates is Lincoln and Grant are both running for the office of President.

I ask "What if" Lincoln had lived and ran for a third term as President in 1868 but Grant chooses to run for President as well. Who would you have support in this epic Clash of American Titans for President?

Would the fight for political power have been played out within the Republican party convention of 1868?

Would Grant have run against Lincoln in the general election of 1868?

Grant was the man who won the war and defeat the great Bobby Lee. As President he could have won a third term but it was the republican party that had tried of him not the public.

Lincoln was our leader and soul of our nation in the war but could the Reconstruction years have soiled his image by 1868, if he had lived. Plus, he would have been breaking the standard of two terms set by Washington.

I ask who would you have supported in 1868 if Lincoln and Grant had face off for the Presidency of the United States of America?

Who do you think would have won between these two men in this epic Clash of American Titans? ?

A penny for our thoughts....

That scenario presents some problems.

First, Lincoln would have to break with the two-term tradition set by George Washington which he would not have done.
Second, had Lincoln for some reason opted for a 3rd term he would be the Republican candidate. That means that Grant would have had to run as a Democrat which he would not have done.
Third, Grant would have had to be convinced to oppose Lincoln. When told in 1864 that there was sentiment to have him oppose Lincoln, Grant said, "They can't do it! They can't compel me to do it!" He added that he considered it "as important for the cause that he [Lincoln] should be elected as that the army should be successful in the field."
 
Grant would not have challenged Lincoln, if he sought a third term. So it would come down to whether Lincoln would have wanted it, or not.
IMO, Lincoln's natural inclination would have been to follow tradition, especially because the last 8 years had been most stressful. At the same time Lincoln was very conscious of the historical context of the United States' place in world history and believed, like many Americans(both then and now), a 'specialness' in the creation and existence of the United States.
It is quite possible that Lincoln would have considered winning the peace as vital as winning the war; in which case, he could have believed that it would be best that he serve one more term(a decision I would tend to agree with)
 
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