Something to Cheer Depressed Candidates

Sometimes during a campaign a candidate may feel she or he is not going to win. That can be depressing, but you should remember a little-known story about Abraham Lincoln.

On this day 150 years ago Lincoln, in the middle of the Civil War and facing a very difficult race for reelection --- even though today most people think he was a hero and loved by all --- wrote the following:

"This morning as for some days past it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. The it will be my duty to so co-operate with with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards."

Thanks to Sherman's victory in Atlanta in September, contrary to Lincoln's fears in the August 23 memorandum he was reelected by a large majority.