Lincoln's Campaign Manager

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Lucky you! You are David Davis, a long-time friend of Abraham Lincoln. You and Lincoln first met as young lawyers riding the circuit in Vandalia, Illinois. Unlike Lincoln, who had no formal legal training, you were a graduate of Kenyon College and studied law at Yale University. Also, unlike Lincoln, who was a lanky 6’4”, you were, ah, portly.

You shunned the limelight. Your strengths were order and planning. Lincoln recognized these strengths and asked you to serve as his campaign manager. Your skilled politicking behind the scenes at the Republican Convention in 1860 helped secure Lincoln’s nomination.

Now you must advise Lincoln on his tactics in the presidential election. He has presented you with nine options:

Emphasize the economic positions of the Republican Party, especially the party’s platform planks on the tariff, building a transcontinental railroad, and passing a Homestead Act.

Don’t write off the South. Run a national campaign to win support in all sections, including a major effort to secure Southern votes.

Call for full political, economic, and social equality for slaves in the South and free blacks across the country.

Press for the containment of slavery in the South by banning the institution from the Western territories.

Attack the record, proposals, or character of one, two, or all three of Lincoln’s opponents.

Defend Lincoln from attacks against his personal history, his legislative record (particularly his public stance about the Mexican War), his connections to John Brown’s raid, and his alleged abolitionist principles.

Argue that Lincoln is the best candidate to preserve the union peacefully.

Promote a favorable image of Lincoln’s candidacy through parades, songs, cartoons, poems, and similar formats.

Remain inactive while the two Democratic nominees bitterly attack each other and divide their party’s vote, allowing Lincoln to triumph.

As Lincoln’s campaign manager, you must advise him on which strategy is the best. Relying on the evidence provided by the Lincoln and Civil War website, rank the nine options and provide thorough explanations of each one’s strengths and weaknesses. Your answers should be based on the historical evidence from this website, sound reasoning, good organization, and clear writing. You will note that there are an unequal number of documents supporting each of the options above. Do not assume that those options with the most entries are the most viable. If you do this activity as part of the national contest on Lincoln and the Civil War, please limit yourself to a thousand words.