Despite deep worry about the outcome over the previous two months, the actual result of the 1864 presidential election was overwhelmingly in favor of Abraham Lincoln.  He received 91% of the electoral vote, 55% of the popular vote and carried all states but Kentucky, New Jersey, and Delaware.  On top of this, the Republican Party decimated their rival Democrats in many parts of the country, taking control of state legislatures and increasing their hold on Congress.  (By John Osborne) 

Radical Republicans under the name the Radical Democracy Party had nominated John C. Frémont for President in early June, with John Cochrane of New York as his running mate.  This split the Republican vote badly. As the presidential election drew nearer and the prospects of the success of the McClellan-Pendleton Democratic ticket grew, Frémont decided to withdraw, as he said "not to aid in the triumphs of Mr. Lincoln, but to do my part toward preventing the election of the Democratic candidate." (By John Osborne)

The Democratic Convention met in Chicago and nominated resigned General George Brinton McClellan, a "War Democrat" for President and "Peace Democrat" George Hunt Pendleton of Ohio for Vice-President.  The convention's platform, largely influenced by former congressman Clement Vallandigham, did call for an immediate armistice and a negotiated end to the conflict, making the coming election a clear referendum on the continuation of the war.  (By John Osborne)

Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas chaired the National Executive of the Republican Party and a document began to appear in early February in the mails and the newspapers under his signature and that of the other five members of the committee.  It recommended that Salmon P. Chase replace Abraham Lincoln as the Republican Party's nominee in the 1864 election and gave five reasons derogative to Lincoln. Chase offered to resign but Lincoln assured him of his confidence and the controversy quickly died.  (By John Osborne)   

The Wade-Davis Bill, setting out stringent requirements for the readmission of former Confederate states, had passed the Congress just over two weeks earlier.  Far more punishing than the president's current  or future plans, Lincoln used the "pocket-veto" and refused to sign the measure. Notable among his reasons was that Congress had no right to ban slavery without a constitutional amendment.  Radical Republicans were enraged, as the "Wade-Davis Manifesto" published three weeks later in the major newspapers demonstrated.  (By John Osborne)