The 1868 election was the first held after the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The election took place during the Reconstruction era, with tensions high over the reintegration of Southern states and the rights of freed slaves.
The Republican candidate was Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general credited with leading the North to victory during the Civil War. His campaign slogan, “Let Us Have Peace,” reflected his desire to reconcile the nation while also securing rights for African Americans.
The Democratic candidate was Horatio Seymour, the former governor of New York, who ran on a platform critical of the Radical Republicans’ Reconstruction policies and opposed many measures granting civil rights to freedmen.
Grant won the election decisively, with 214 electoral votes to Seymour’s 80. Grant’s victory reinforced the Republicans’ commitment to Reconstruction and the continued presence of federal troops in the South to protect the rights of freed slaves.