I'm afraid that's all I can find in terms of older threads in relation to this, though the Reconstruction forum isn't out of the question!
It does appear this was a closely run race and Grant's famous words 'Let us have peace' obviously have something to do with it.
Here's a little more insight:
United States presidential election of 1868, American presidential election held on Nov. 3, 1868, in which
Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated
Democrat Horatio Seymour.
Reconstruction Era Election
The election of 1868 was the first to be held after the
American Civil War, and central to its outcome were the issues of
Reconstruction of the South and
suffrage for the newly freed slaves. Struggles over Reconstruction policy had led to military occupation of former Confederate states and to the impeachment of Pres.
Andrew Johnson earlier that year. Republicans favoured
civil rights for all, while Democrats opposed the Republicans’ approach to Reconstruction and called for the states to decide on political issues such as suffrage.
The Republicans held their national convention in May, in the midst of Johnson’s trial. The convention unanimously selected Ulysses S. Grant, an immensely popular general who had been commander of the Union forces from 1864 to 1865. After some debate, the Republicans nominated
Schuyler Colfax, the speaker of the House of Representatives, as his running mate. Some
conservative Democratic leaders in the east initially supported former Republican
Salmon P. Chase, who had fallen out of favour with Radical Republicans over his
criticism of Republican Reconstruction policies. They intended to pit him for nomination against
George Pendleton of Ohio, who had gained popularity among western Democrats because of his
advocacy of using paper money for national debt.
However, when the Democratic convention met in July, Pendleton’s supporters realized that he could not win the nomination and instead threw their support behind New York’s former governor Horatio Seymour, a “Peace Democrat” or Copperhead, denounced by Republicans as being unpatriotic. The Democrats then nominated
Francis Preston Blair, Jr., an open critic of Republican Reconstruction policy, as their vice presidential candidate.
Ulysses S. Grant.Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Horatio Seymour.Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cwpbh-01843)
The Democratic platform remained firm on opposition to Reconstruction, and Republicans were quick to remind the public that their party strove for peace and unity.
The last line of Grant’s letter of acceptance of the Republican nomination, “Let us have peace,” became the Republican campaign slogan. Seymour’s chances were dealt a significant blow when a letter Blair had written prior to his nomination was published. In the letter, he had stated his belief that the Reconstruction should be voided and that white Southerners should be allowed to reorganize new governments. Though the Democrats were unable to recover from this incident, the race was close, with Grant’s narrow margin of victory in the popular vote (300,000 ballots) possibly attributable to newly enfranchised black voters. The vote of the
electoral college was more one-sided, with Grant garnering 214 votes, compared with 80 for Seymour. With Grant’s election the Republican Reconstruction was allowed to continue, and Congress soon ratified the
Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
United States presidential election of 1868, American presidential election held on Nov. 3, 1868, in which Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour. The election of 1868 was the first to be held after the American Civil War, and central to its outcome were the issues of
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