Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the presidential election of 1860 in a four-way contest. Although Lincoln received less than 40% of the popular vote, he easily won the Electoral College vote over Stephen Douglas (Democrat), John Breckenridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Union).
The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the presidential election of 1860, including manuscripts, broadsides, prints, political cartoons, sheet music, articles, and government documents. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the presidential election of 1860 that are available throughout the Library of Congress website. In addition, it provides links to external websites focusing on the 1860 election and a selected bibliography.
1860 Presidential Election Results [1]
Political Party |
Presidential Nominee |
VP Nominee |
Electoral College |
Popular Vote |
Republican |
Abraham Lincoln |
Hannibal Hamlin |
180 |
1,865,908 |
Democratic (Southern) |
John Breckinridge |
Joseph Lane |
72 |
848,019 |
Constitutional Union |
John Bell |
Edward Everett |
39 |
590,901 |
Democratic |
Stephen Douglas |
Herschel Johnson |
12 |
1,380,202 |