National Union Party (United States)
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National Union Party
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| Leaders | Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson |
| Founded | May 21, 1864 |
| Dissolved | 1868 |
| Merger of | Mainline Republicans War Democrats Constitutional Union Party |
| Merged into |
Republican Party Democratic Party |
| Ideology |
Unionism Reconstructionism Abolitionism |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colors | Blue, red, white (American flag) |
The National Union Party was the name used by the Republican Party for the national ticket in the 1864 presidential election, held during the Civil War. State Republican parties, for the most part, did not change their name.
The temporary name was used to attract War Democrats and Border State Unionists who would not vote for the Republican Party. The party nominated incumbent President Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Andrew Johnson, who were elected in a landslide.
The National Union Party was created in 1864 prior to the end of the Civil War. A faction of anti-Lincoln Radical Republicans held the belief that Lincoln was , and therefore could not be re-elected. A number of Radical Republicans formed a party called the Radical Democracy Party, and a few hundred delegates convened in Cleveland starting on May 31, 1864, eventually nominating John C. Frémont, who had also been the Republicans' first presidential standard-bearer during the 1856 U.S. presidential election.
Republicans loyal to Lincoln created a new name for their party in convention at Baltimore, Maryland during the first week in June 1864, in order to accommodate the War Democrats who supported the war and wished to separate themselves from the Copperheads. This is the main reason why War Democrat Andrew Johnson was selected to be the Vice Presidential nominee; then-current Vice President Hannibal Hamlin was not nominated. The National Unionists supporting the Lincoln-Johnson ticket also hoped that the new party would stress the national character of the war.
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