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The United States presidential election of 1868 was the 21st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1868. It was the first presidential election to take place after the American Civil War, during the period referred to as Reconstruction. As three of the former Confederate states (Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia) were not yet restored to the Union, their electors could not vote in the election. The incumbent President, Andrew Johnson, who succeeded to the presidency in 1865 following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, was unpopular and failed to receive the Democratic presidential nomination. By 1868, Johnson had alienated many of his constituents and had been impeached by Congress. Although Johnson kept his office, his presidency was crippled. After numerous ballots, the Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour to take on the Republican candidate, Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was one of the most popular men in the North due to his efforts in concluding the Civil War successfully for the Union. Although Seymour was buried in the electoral college, he gave Grant a good race for the popular vote. In addition to his appeal in the North, Grant benefited from votes among the newly enfranchised freedmen in the South, while the temporary political disfranchisement of many Southern whites helped Republican margins. It was the first election in which African Americans could vote in every (Northern or Reconstructed) state (in accordance with the First Reconstruction Act); Grant won the office. Every state except Florida used a popular vote to determine electors. ==Background== Reconstruction was a hotly debated issue in the Union. Grant was willing to support the Reconstruction plans of the Radical Republicans in Congress. After Lincoln's assassination, the Radical Republicans had strong goals in the South to suppress the former rebels. The Republican platform left the issue of black suffrage in the North to the states, while emphasizing political rights for freedmen in the South. Seymour proposed a Reconstruction policy to emphasize peaceful reconciliation with the South, similar to that advocated by president Abraham Lincoln and his successor Andrew Johnson. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States presidential election, 1868」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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