Lincoln was NOT third party, so quit posting that he was!

I have seen this meme, or variations of it, flooding the internet as of late.

This is commonly brought up when speaking of Lincoln; a point that I myself considered fact until recently, when I delved more deeply into the history of Lincoln's election.

Those who claim that Lincoln was "third party" cite the Whig party and the Democratic party as the "first and second". There is one fundamental problem with this matter: the Whig party virtual dissolved in 1852--8 years previous to Lincoln's election in 1860.

Up to that point, the issue of slavery was not polarized at that time; however, the majority of  pro-slavery politicians were Democrats. The issues up to that point in the political scene had mainly been banks, tariffs, and internal improvements.

In 1852, the Whigs had a devastating division in their national convention: whether to nominate Millard Fillmore--then the US president, who upheld the fugitive slave law (a law most Whigs felt was unconstitutional)--or to nominate Winfield Scott, who could pull both Democratic and Whig votes dues to his political ambiguity (he was a Southerner, Virginian, but not a slave owner). After fifty-three ballots, Scott finally won the nomination.

Southern Whigs, however, feared that Scott would be a reprise of Zachary Taylor--whom they saw as a traitor (he was nominated by the Whig party in 1848 and won the Presidency but opposed slavery expansion once elected into office despite being a slave owner) and refused to back Scott. Many of them left the Whig party, transmigrating into Democratics.  In 1852 the Whigs elected no governors in the South, only fourteen of sixty-five congressman, and lost control of all Southern legislatures except for Tennessee. Without power in the South, the Whigs could no longer remain a viable and competitive party. "The Whig party is dead" Alexander Stephens lamented.

Party division in Congress over the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1864 sealed the casket and buried the Whig party for good.

With the fall of the Whigs, several other parties gained momentum, but none had enough strength to contest the Democrats, who had little united opposition in 1852 and 1856.  These parties later came together due to a common goal: bring down the Democrat dynasty of the past 8 years. Although many of these parties had different agendas, they realized that they could not accomplish any of these separate agendas as long as the Democrats remained the only viable party and held power in office.  They would set aside their differences to defeat the Democrats: they would form the Republican party, and end slavery once and for all. Although they disagreed on the means to accomplish this, they all agreed the Democrats needed to be brought down in order to make any progress towards emancipation.

For the 1860 election, the Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas. The Republican nominee emerged in the form of a tall representation of uncompromising integrity: Abraham Lincoln.

Pro-slavery, Southern Democrats didn't find Stephen Douglas pro-slavery enough. They stormed out of the 1860 Democratic convention, holding their own convention and nominating John C. Breckenridge.

The Democrats were the first party.

Republicans emerged as the second viable party.

The Southern Democrats were the "third party" in this instance.

John C. Breckenridge drew the votes of the majority of Southern voters.  By taking these votes away from Stephen Douglas, he inadvertently helped usher Lincoln into the White House.

If we were to draw a comparison to today, Hilary and Trump are Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln (in regards to being the nominees of the two major parties, NOT in regards to morals).  Gary Johnson is Breckenridge.  He serves the same purpose as Breckenridge: to guarantee the election to the opponent of whomever he takes the votes from.  So if he takes more votes from Hillary, Trump wins.  If he take more votes from Trump, Hillary wins.

Voters must be pragmatic in this election.  The purpose of the election is to choose who will become the next president; not to make a moral statement.  Voting in order to make a moral statement is indeed wasting your vote, because it does not contribute to the very purpose of an election: to decide whom will next take office.  Voting for a third party candidate is wasting your vote for the same reason.  This wasted vote theory is commonly accepted by most political scientists.

The fact of the matter is that you have two options: Trump or Hillary.  Now is not the time to complain about the two-party system; it's far too late for that.  For now, the pragmatic thing to do is vote for one of the available candidates, and then work to reform the two-party system, if you feel it needs to be reformed (and if there is even a country left to reform!)  At this point, you're at the mercy of the two-party system, and there isn't really much you can do about it immediately.

A friend of mine said, "Well, I don't feel like my vote is being wasted".  Well, quite honestly, my friend is delusional.  Anyone who votes third party is as well.  Whether or not you feel something is a certain way doesn't change the reality that it is what it is.  Have you ever heard the story of the Emperor's New Clothes?  Well, the Emperor could feel clothed as much as he wanted; that didn't change the fact that he was stark naked.

So there you have it, Lincoln was not third party.  It was the very fact that people voted third party that won him the election.  Ponder on that for a moment.

Check Out My Follow-up Post!
Principle & Pragmatism



Sources:
James M. McPherson, Battlecry of Freedom, (New York, 1988), 65-67, 117-125.

Roy and Jeannette Nichols, “Election of 1852,” in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., History of American Presidential Elections 1789– 1968 , 4 vols. (New York, 1971), II, 943– 44.

William E. Gienapp, “The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852– 1856,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1980, p. 323.

William J. Cooper, Jr., The South and the Politics of Slavery 1828– 1856 (Baton Rouge, 1978), 330, 343.