1868 United States presidential election — 21st quadrennial U.S. presidential election
The first post-Civil War presidential election, marking Ulysses S. Grant's victory and the first participation of Black voters in reconstructed Southern states.
Key Facts
- Winner
- Ulysses S. Grant (Republican)
- Opponent
- Horatio Seymour (Democrat)
- Election date
- November 3, 1868
- Confederate states excluded
- Texas, Mississippi, Virginia
- Northern electoral votes (Democrats)
- 46 vs. 34 from the South
- Quadrennial election number
- 21st U.S. presidential election
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Andrew Johnson's bitter clashes with the Republican Congress over Reconstruction policy, culminating in his impeachment, left the Democratic Party divided. Republicans rallied behind Ulysses S. Grant, the Union's top general, while Democrats nominated former New York Governor Horatio Seymour on a platform explicitly opposing Black political rights and Republican Reconstruction measures.
On November 3, 1868, American voters chose between Grant and Seymour in the first presidential election following the Civil War. Grant won decisively in the Electoral College, aided by newly enfranchised Black voters in Southern states under the First Reconstruction Act, while three former Confederate states—Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia—remained unrestored and cast no electoral votes.
Grant's victory consolidated Republican control of Reconstruction policy and validated the enfranchisement of Black Southerners. It was the last election until 1912 in which Democrats carried more Northern than Southern electoral votes, and the last until 1964 in which Republicans outperformed in Southern popular vote totals, reflecting the extraordinary political conditions of the Reconstruction period.
Political Outcome
Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) defeated Horatio Seymour (Democrat), winning decisively in the Electoral College.
Andrew Johnson (Democrat/National Union) as incumbent president
Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) as President-elect