Editing George B. McClellan (section)

==1864 presidential election==
{{further|1864 United States presidential election}}
[[File:The Chicago Platform (1864), by Thomas Nast.png|thumb|left|An anti-McClellan poster from ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', drawn by [[Thomas Nast]], showing rioters assaulting children, slave-catchers chasing runaway slaves, and a woman being sold at a slave auction]]
[[File:Democratic presidential ticket 1864b.jpg|thumb|[[Currier and Ives]] print of the McClellan–Pendleton Democratic presidential party ticket, 1864. Lithograph with watercolor.]]
Secretary Stanton ordered McClellan to report to [[Trenton, New Jersey]], for further orders, although none were issued. As the war progressed, there were various calls to return McClellan to an important command, following the Union defeats at [[Battle of Fredericksburg|Fredericksburg]] and [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]], as Robert E. Lee moved north at the start of the [[Gettysburg campaign]], and as [[Jubal Early]] threatened Washington in 1864. When Ulysses S. Grant became general-in-chief, he discussed returning McClellan to an unspecified position. But all of these opportunities were impossible, given the opposition within the administration and the knowledge that McClellan posed a potential political threat. McClellan worked for months on a lengthy report describing his two major campaigns and his successes in organizing the Army, replying to his critics and justifying his actions by accusing the administration of undercutting him and denying him necessary reinforcements. The War Department was reluctant to publish his report because, just after completing it in October 1863, McClellan openly declared his entrance to the political stage as a Democrat.<ref name="H6Nu7" />
[[File:McClellan Gunboat Candidate Cartoon.jpg|thumb|left|Cartoon of McClellan used by his political opponents in 1864 presidential campaign]]

McClellan was nominated by the [[1864 Democratic National Convention|Democrats]] to run against Abraham Lincoln in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1864|1864 U.S. presidential election]]. Following the example of Winfield Scott, he ran as a U.S. Army general still on active duty; he did not resign his commission until election day, November 8, 1864. McClellan supported continuation of the war and restoration of the Union, but not the abolition of slavery, although the party platform, written by [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperhead]] leader [[Clement Vallandigham]] of Ohio, was opposed to that position. The platform called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy. McClellan was forced to repudiate the platform, which made his campaign inconsistent and difficult. He also was not helped by the party's choice for vice president, [[George H. Pendleton]], a peace candidate from Ohio.<ref name="dPElS" />

The deep division in the party, the unity of the [[United States Republican Party|Republicans]] (running under the label "National Union Party"), the absence of a large portion of the Democrats' base (the South) from the voter pool, and the military successes by Union forces in the fall of 1864, doomed McClellan's candidacy. Lincoln won the election handily, with 212 [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] votes to 21, and a popular vote of 2,218,388 to 1,812,807 or 55% to 45%.<ref name="Sx07R" /> For all his popularity with the troops, McClellan failed to secure their support and the military vote went to Lincoln nearly 3–1. Lincoln's share of the vote in the Army of the Potomac was 70%.<ref name="xPUgo" />