Presidential Candidates:: Containing Sketches, Biographical, Personal and Political, of Prominent Candidates for the Presidency in 1860

In Short

Compiled in 1859, this work provides detailed character studies of the prominent statesmen considered potential contenders for the 1860 presidency. By focusing on "new men" rather than established past officeholders like Buchanan or Pierce, the volume serves as a contemporary snapshot of American leadership during a period of escalating sectional tension. It offers a mixture of personal anecdotes, professional histories, and political stances, capturing the specific anxieties and ideological divides—particularly regarding slavery and territory—that defined the decade before the Civil War.

The Story

The narrative arc of the book is defined by the intensifying conflict between the Northern and Southern states, as viewed through the biographies of the men caught in the crossfire. It begins with William H. Seward, presented as a vanguard of the anti-slavery movement, who articulates a foreboding vision of national ruin if the "aggrandizement of the slaveholding class" is not arrested. Seward’s rhetoric sets the tone for a series of profiles that highlight how these figures navigate the increasingly volatile legislative landscape, where debates over the Pacific Railroad, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the admission of new states act as proxies for the deeper, existential question of the nation’s survival.

As the book progresses, it shifts between men who argue for the federal power of Congress to limit slavery—such as Salmon P. Chase, whose life is framed by his rise from a self-made lawyer to an uncompromising opponent of slavery expansion—and those who advocate for the doctrine of "self-government." Stephen A. Douglas emerges as a central figure in this latter camp, championing the idea that the people of each territory should decide their own domestic institutions, a stance that brought him into direct confrontation with the growing Republican sentiment. The collection also captures the perspectives of Southern figures like Jefferson Davis, whose military bearing and stern, high-pitched oratory identify him as a champion of the extreme South, and others who, while deeply entrenched in their regional interests, represent a wide spectrum of political thought.

The stories of these men are frequently interrupted by the sounds of the Senate floor: the procedural delays, the shouted objections, and the constant friction between state sovereignty and federal authority. We see figures like Henry Wilson, whose humble beginnings as a shoemaker and later transformation into an abolitionist illustrate the intense moral conviction driving the Northern political shift. Conversely, the book highlights the military heroes and pragmatic lawyers—such as Joseph Lane or John Bell—who attempt to bridge the divide, often finding themselves sidelined or forced into increasingly radical positions.

The culmination of these sketches is not a prediction of the election’s outcome, but a portrait of a political class that has lost the ability to find common ground. The final portraits, including that of the explorer and 1856 candidate John C. Fremont, emphasize a hardening of lines. There is no resolution in the text; the reader is left in the state of "fearful speculation" that Seward describes, watching as the democratic process is strained to its breaking point by the incompatible interests of free and slave labor. The book concludes with the implicit acknowledgment that the era of compromise is closing and that the candidates are merely the most visible actors in a drama that is rapidly spiraling toward an inevitable and violent climax.

How It Unfolds

The ideological divide The book opens by establishing the gravity of the 1860 election, framing it as a turning point where the "elemental fires" of the slavery debate can no longer be ignored or compromised away. Seward’s opening remarks serve as a manifesto, detailing the path from local legislative disputes to the "civil and servile wars" that threaten the Union.

The mechanics of power Subsequent chapters detail the professional origins and political maneuvers of diverse candidates, from the courtroom strategies of Chase in Ohio to the pedagogical background of teachers-turned-politicians. These sections reveal how early struggles with poverty and the pursuit of legal authority shaped the uncompromising stances these men would later take in Washington.

The collision of principles The narrative middle focuses on the legislative paralysis of the late 1850s, using the chaotic atmosphere of the Senate as a backdrop for the clash between Northern and Southern viewpoints. Through the voices of Douglas, Wilson, and others, the text illustrates how debates over "self-government" and state rights became battlegrounds that effectively ended the possibility of moderate legislative success.

The hardening of the path The final beats move toward the realization that the democratic system is failing to resolve the sectional crisis. By highlighting figures like Fremont and Davis, the book closes on the stark reality that the candidates are tied to regional interests that make national unity increasingly impossible, setting the stage for the historic election to come.

The People

The book features a wide cast, but the weight of the narrative rests on a few key archetypes. William H. Seward is portrayed as the intellectual engine of the anti-slavery movement, driven by a belief that history is moving toward a final reckoning between liberty and slavery. In contrast, Stephen A. Douglas represents the pragmatic, if embattled, proponent of popular sovereignty, a man who believes that the democratic process—rather than federal decree—is the only way to manage the nation’s internal contradictions. Salmon P. Chase appears as the archetype of the self-made man, rising through grit and legal mastery to become a moral pillar for those who view slavery as an unconstitutional blight. Jefferson Davis serves as the counterpoint, a figure whose military discipline and unwavering advocacy for the South represent the growing regional insularity that the author views with clear apprehension. Henry Wilson’s trajectory—from a penniless, self-taught shoemaker to a fierce, principled abolitionist—provides a humanizing look at the fervor taking hold in New England. These figures are not static; they are shown reacting to events, shifting their rhetoric, and, in the cases of men like Fremont, discovering that even the most celebrated military careers can be easily derailed by the unforgiving nature of national party politics.

In Its Own Voice

"All the fearful evils now upon us are only the inevitable results of efforts to extinguish, by delays, concession, and compromises, a discussion to which justice, reason and humanity, are continually lending their elemental fires."

(Seward reflects on the futility of trying to suppress the growing national crisis through political maneuvering.)

"Why make an exception of the slavery question, by taking it out of that great rule of self-government which applies to all the other relations of life?"

(Douglas defends the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska Act during a discussion of his political philosophy.)

"I regard it as a great calamity that it should have been entailed upon us; and I should look upon that man as the first and greatest benefactor to his country, whose wisdom could point out to us some practical and satisfactory means by which we could... provide for the ultimate emancipation and removal of all the slaves in the country."

(A Southern leader acknowledges the burden of slavery while debating the future of the Union.)

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the failure of the American democratic system to mediate between two fundamentally incompatible moral and economic systems. It is an argument about the exhaustion of traditional political compromise. The author questions whether the constitutional mechanisms designed by the founders could survive the weight of the slavery question, particularly when that question was tied to the expansion of territory and the shifting balance of power between Northern and Southern states. The book effectively asks: when rhetoric and legislative procedure cease to bridge the gap between "free labor" and "slave labor," what remains of the Republic? It centers on the fragility of institutions when the men tasked with leading them become more committed to their regional or ideological silos than to the survival of the national whole.

Why Read It Today

Reading this work today feels like observing a slow-motion collision. For a modern reader, the book offers a visceral sense of how a society begins to fracture long before the first shot is fired. You will encounter the unfiltered, high-stakes rhetoric of the era, which can be challenging due to its density and the deeply entrenched, often troubling, period attitudes regarding race and human rights. The text does not shy away from the intense, sometimes repetitive nature of 19th-century political debate, but this very quality provides an authentic window into a time when the stakes of every legislative vote felt like life or death.

It is particularly recommended for those interested in the human side of political history; the author’s attempt to paint these men not just as politicians, but as figures with personal histories, family struggles, and distinct temperaments, makes the period feel startlingly close. You will come away with a profound understanding of how the political class perceived the encroaching chaos of 1860, and a sobering realization of how quickly a nation can find its common language replaced by the vocabulary of impending conflict. It is a demanding read, but one that rewards the patient observer with a front-row seat to the collapse of the "old" America.