PRESIDENTS OF THR UNITED STATES. 731 



Bell, 39. The popular vote cast for Mr. Lincoln was 1,857,610, while the 

 aggregate vote cast against him was 2,804,560. The issues in this election are 

 too well known to need recapitulation. Slavery, State rights, and a general 

 distrust between the northern and southern portions of the country, conspired 

 to make the results of the campaign one of great importance, as was subse- 

 quently proved. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 1864. Received in the electoral college 212 votes. His 

 opponent, George B. McClellan, received 21 votes. The issues in this cam- 

 paign were principally those arising from the war then in progress. Presi- 

 dent Lincoln was assassinated April 14, 1865, and Andrew Johnson became 

 President. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT, 1868. Received in the electoral college 217 votes. 

 His opponent, Horatio Seymour, received 77 votes. The results of the war, 

 such ^s reconstruction, public debt, reduction of the army, currency, and 

 universal amnesty, made up the issues in this political contest. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT, 1872. Received in the electoral college 286 votes. 

 His opponent, Horace Greeley, would have received 65 ; but, dying soon after 

 election, no votes in the college were cast for him. The split in the Republican 

 party was caused by a strong dislike to the renomination of President Grant. 

 The dissenters nominated Mr. Greeley, and the Democratic party indorsed his 

 nomination. The public debt, currency, and the condition of the Southern 

 States, formed the basis for the political discussion of this campaign. 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, 1876. The result of this election was the closest 

 ever held in the United States. The returns from some States were duplicated, 

 and general chaos seemed to prevail. It required 185 electoral votes to elect. 

 Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic candidate, claimed 203 votes. In the contro- 

 versy which followed, a joint high commission was formed, to whom the ques- 

 tion of which candidate was elected was referred. After much investigation, 

 a decision was made March 2, 1877, which gave 185 electoral votes to Mr. 

 Hayes, and 184 to Mr. Tilden. The justice and correctness of this decision 

 have both been questioned. Peter Cooper was a candidate of the Greenback 

 party, and received nearly 100,000 votes. This party demanded radical 

 changes in financial legislation. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD, 1880. Received in the electoral college 214 votes. 

 His opponent, General W. S. Hancock, received 155 votes. General James 

 B. Weaver was nominated by the Greenback party, and received 307,000 

 votes. While the Democratic and Republican parties discussed, in a mild 

 manner, the tariff and a few minor measures, they ignored, by concerted 

 agreement, the demands of the reform party. That party, however, made a 

 vigorous campaign, and did much to open the eyes of the people to the true 

 financial policy of government. President Garfield was assassinated July 2, 

 1881, and Chester A. Arthur became President. 



GROVER CLEVELAND, 1884. Received in the electoral college 219 votes. 

 His opponent, James G. Blaine, received 182 votes. John P. St. John, Pro- 

 hibition candidate, received 151,000, and Benjamin F. Butler, Greenback, 

 133,000. During this canvass, the usual charges and counter-charges were 



