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Abraham Lincoln Works “To Secure the Election of Gen. Taylor” |
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 Summary: A rare letter as a Whig Congressman, supporting Zachary Taylor’s presidential bid.
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Printed Letter Signed, Washington, D.C. 1848. 1 p. 7½ x 9½”. The word “neighborhood” and the postscript were added by a clerical hand.
Inventory #21953 $36,000
Lincoln systematically seeks to identify and target potential supporters. His efforts to ensure that “correct information... reach[es] the mass of the people” would be familiar to today’s political strategists.
Partial Transcript:
“It is believed that all that is necessary to secure the election of Gen. Taylor, is for correct information to reach the mass of the people. I therefore earnestly request that you will lose no time in forwarding lists for your neighborhood. I would suggest that the names of the Whigs be distinguished from those of the more moderate of our opponents...” Historical Background:
Lincoln represented the Illinois Seventh District in the House of Representatives from 1847 to 1849. In June 1848, at the Whig National Convention in Philadelphia, he supported Zachary Taylor for the presidency. Following Taylor’s election, Lincoln sought the office of Commissioner of the General Land Office. Instead, he was offered the governorship of the newly-organized Oregon Territory. Having no desire to move further west, and seeing a limited future for a Whig in Oregon, Lincoln declined. Certain that his political career was over, he returned to Springfield to practice law.
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