Vice President Benjamin Butler?

Bruce Vail

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Joined
Jul 8, 2015
I've been intrigued for years by the tale that Ben Butler was offered the spot of Vice President on Lincoln's ticket in the 1864 presidential campaign. The "what if" possibilities had Butler become Vice President in early 1865 are a little mind boggling, but I have had a sense there is something wrong in the premise that Butler was ever a real candidate for the job. What do the commenters at CWT think?

I have examined the brief discussion of the offer in Butler's Book and find it very unsatisfying. What have the contmporaries of Lincoln and Butler had to say about the matter in succeeding years? Is Butler's account credible? Are the statements of Simon Cameron credible?

What say you all?
 
As in modern politics many are approached to get a feel of where they stand on it but yes, I think it's credible and is one of those ironies I so enjoy.
 
As in modern politics many are approached to get a feel of where they stand on it but yes, I think it's credible and is one of those ironies I so enjoy.

Cameron may have been feeling Butler out to see whether he might be a defector to the Salmon Chase campaign, without any intention of ever offering the VP spot to Butler behinfd Lincoln. Cameron was a crafty old ward heeler and not known for his integrity and forthrightness.
 
Cameron may have been feeling Butler out to see whether he might be a defector to the Salmon Chase campaign, without any intention of ever offering the VP spot to Butler behinfd Lincoln. Cameron was a crafty old ward heeler and not known for his integrity and forthrightness.
You do realize that Cameron was a politician right? Come to think of it so was Butler and Lincoln.
 
You do realize that Cameron was a politician right? Come to think of it so was Butler and Lincoln.

Cameron was a very successful politician, more so than Butler and perhaps even more so than Lincoln. Did not know this till recently but Cameron made a comeback from his disgrace as Lincoln's first Sec'y of War to build a Republican party machine in Pennsylvania that lasted for decades. Post war, he served in the US Senate and even got his son a US Senate seat. He lived to ripe old age of 90 as one of the most effective political bosses in Pennsylvania history.
 
Considering the behavior of our present politicians, all parties included, Butler would have fit like a hand in a glove! He perhaps was a little more honest in his deceitfulness!
Regards
David
 
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