Nor was Lincoln's name as that of an available
candidate left to the chance of accidental discovery. It is indeed not
probable that he thought of himself as a Presidential possibility, during
his contest with Douglas for the senatorship. As late as April, 1859, he
had written to a friend who had approached him on the subject that he did
not think himself fit for the Presidency. The Vice-Presidency was then
the limit of his ambition. But some of his friends in Illinois took the
matter seriously in hand, and Lincoln, after some hesitation, then
formally authorized "the use of his name." The matter was managed with
such energy and excellent judgment that, in the convention, he had not
only the whole vote of Illinois to start with, but won votes on all sides
without offending any rival. A large majority of the opponents of Seward
went over to Abraham Lincoln, and gave him the nomination on the third
ballot. As had been foreseen, Douglas was nominated by one wing of the
Democratic party at Baltimore, while the extreme proslavery wing put
Breckinridge into the field as its candidate.
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