1864 Democratic National Convention

• 
  Major General
  George B. McClellan
  of New Jersey
• 
  Former Governor Thomas H. Seymour
  of Connecticut

• 
  Senator
  Lazarus W. Powell
  of Kentucky
• 
  Former President
  Franklin Pierce
  from New Hampshire
• 
  Governor
  Horatio Seymour
  of New York
• 
  Former Representative
  Clement Vallandigham
  from Ohio

General George B. McClellan had widespread support from the War Democrats, and was generally seen as the front-runner. The Peace Democrats, however, found it much harder to come up with a candidate. Many of them had hoped that Horatio Seymour would act as their standard-bearer, but early in 1864 he broke with the Copperheads and aligned himself with the more moderate Peace Democrats. Many of his allies tried to get him to run anyway, believing that he would be an acceptable compromise candidate who could stop McClellan from being nominated, but on the day before the convention commenced, Seymour announced positively that he would not be a candidate.[6] Nonetheless, a portion of the Illinois delegation placed Seymour's name in nomination during the convention. Seymour himself, acting as chairman of the convention, declared that the Illinois delegate was "not in order" since a different motion was already under discussion.[7]

Vallandigham, the ideological leader of the Copperheads, recognized that he was too divisive a figure to earn the required two-thirds majority at the convention (indeed, he would be loudly booed by the War Democrats and even some of the more moderate Peace Democrats when he delivered a speech on the first day), and declined to put his name forward. Instead, the Copperheads eventually put forward former governor Thomas H. Seymour of Connecticut. Other candidates were placed in nomination before eventually being withdrawn. Senator Lazarus W. Powell was placed in nomination by the Delaware delegation, but Powell personally asked that his name be withdrawn since he believed the eventual Democratic presidential candidate "should come from one of the non-slaveholding States."[8] Amid "great applause", a portion of the Kentucky delegation placed the name of former President Franklin Pierce before the convention.[9] But Pierce's name was withdrawn from consideration when a delegate revealed that he had received both written and verbal instructions from Pierce stating that he did not wish to be presented as a candidate.[10]

As the first ballot began, McClellan took a commanding lead over Seymour, with the support of both the War Democrats and the moderate Peace Democrats. The Copperheads, realizing that trying to stop McClellan's nomination would most likely be futile, soon started to throw their votes behind the general, who finished comfortably in excess of the required two-thirds majority at the end of the first ballot. A motion to have McClellan's nomination be declared unanimous was carried.

• 
  1st Ballot
• 
  1st Ballot
  (Revised)

• 
  Representative
  George H. Pendleton
  of Ohio
• 
  Railroad President George W. Cass
  of Pennsylvania
• 
  Representative
  Daniel W. Voorhees
  of Indiana
• 
  Former Senator Augustus C. Dodge
  of Iowa

• 
  Former Treasury Secretary James Guthrie of Kentucky
• 
  Senator
  Lazarus W. Powell
  of Kentucky
• 
  Former Chief Justice John D. Caton
  of Illinois
• 
  Former Representative John S. Phelps
  of Missouri

McClellan/Pendleton campaign poster

Eight names were placed in nomination: George H. Pendleton, James Guthrie, Lazarus W. Powell, George W. Cass, John D. Caton, Daniel W. Voorhees, Augustus C. Dodge, and John S. Phelps. Following the first ballot roll call, the names of Guthrie, Powell, Caton, and Phelps were withdrawn from consideration when it was revealed none of them desired the nomination. Before the first ballot could be finalized, 70 delegates who had supported one of the withdrawn candidates shifted their votes to Pendleton. As a result, Pendleton was supported by a majority of the delegates when the vote for the first ballot was finalized. With the exception of Pendleton, the remaining contenders were favorite son candidates who only had the support of their home states. During the second ballot roll call, each state recorded its vote for Pendleton.

Pendleton, a close associate of Vallandigham, was an Extreme Peace Democrat representative from the electoral-rich state of Ohio. Since the Democrats were divided by issues of war and peace, Pendleton's well-known rejection of the Lincoln administration's assertion of the constitutional right to coerce a state back into the Union balanced the ticket.[11]

• 
  1st Ballot
  (Before Shifts)
• 
  1st Ballot
  (After Shifts)
• 
  2nd Ballot

• Official proceedings of the Democratic national convention, held in 1864 at Chicago