Russell Mahan Book order

"I have really got it into my head to try to be United States Senator." These are the words of Abraham Lincoln as he launched his first campaign for the U.S. Senate. He was then a 45-year-old, out of office politician who dreamed of higher things. After a few years of relative inactivity in politics, Lincoln was “aroused as never before” when the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 extended slavery into what had been free territories. It was before he gained national fame when he ran against Stephen Douglas and engaged in the Lincoln-Douglas debates.Lincoln in 1855 was a familiar political figure within the state and among the local leaders. He had served eight years in the Legislature and two in the U.S. Congress, and was just emerging as the foremost member of the Whig Party in Illinois. When the anti-Nebraska Act movement won control of the Legislature in the 1854 elections, Lincoln jumped into the race for U.S. Senator. The choice was to be made by the state General Assembly and Lincoln embarked upon a comprehensive campaign to persuade each member to support him. It was a chaotic time politically as the two party system was disintegrating across the nation. The Whig Party collapsed and new factions like the Republicans emerged, making it difficult to put together a majority vote. Lincoln stumbled along the way, resigning his own seat in the Legislature only to see the Democrats elect his successor. Yet he did everything possible to succeed in his quest.The election of the U.S. Senator from Illinois took place in the Capitol Building in Springfield on February 8, 1855. One hundred members of the Legislature cast their votes in a divisive, multi-ballot contest among Nebraska Democrats, anti-Nebraska Democrats, and Lincoln’s coalition of anti-slavery Whigs, Republicans, Abolitionists, Free Soilers, and Know Nothings. This is the story.