Editing William H. Seward (section)

====1864 election; Hampton Roads Conference====
It was far from certain that Lincoln would even be nominated in 1864, let alone re-elected, as the tide of war, though generally favoring the North, washed back and forth. Lincoln sought nomination by the [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]], composed of Republicans and [[War Democrats]]. No one proved willing to oppose Lincoln, who was nominated. Seward was by then unpopular among many Republicans and opponents sought to prompt his replacement by making Lincoln's running mate former New York Democratic senator [[Daniel S. Dickinson]]; under the political customs of the time, one state could not hold two positions as prestigious as vice president and Secretary of State. Administration forces turned back Dickinson's bid, nominating instead Military Governor of Tennessee [[Andrew Johnson]], with whom Seward had served in the Senate. Lincoln was re-elected in November; Seward sat with Lincoln and the assistant presidential secretary, [[John Hay]], as the returns came in.{{sfn|Taylor|pp=231–234}}

[[File:RunningtheMachine-LincAdmin.jpg|thumb|right|''Running The "Machine"''<br />An 1864 cartoon mocking Lincoln's cabinet depicts Seward, [[William P. Fessenden|William Fessenden]], Lincoln, [[Edwin M. Stanton|Edwin Stanton]], [[Gideon Welles]] and other members]]
In January 1865, [[Francis Preston Blair]], father of former Lincoln [[Postmaster General of the United States|Postmaster General]] Montgomery Blair, went, with Lincoln's knowledge, to the Confederate capital of Richmond to propose to Davis that North and South unite to expel the French from their domination of Mexico. Davis appointed commissioners (Vice President [[Alexander Stephens]], former U.S. Supreme Court justice Campbell, and former Confederate Secretary of State [[Robert M. T. Hunter]]) to negotiate. They met with Lincoln and Seward at the [[Hampton Roads Conference]] the following month. Lincoln would settle for nothing short of a cessation of resistance to the federal government and an end to slavery; the Confederates would not even concede that they and the Union were one nation. There was much friendly talk, as most of them had served together in Washington, but no agreement.{{sfn|Van Deusen|pp=381–386}} After the conference broke up, Seward sent a bucket of champagne to the Confederates, conveyed by a black oarsman in a rowboat, and called to the southerners, "keep the champagne, but return the Negro."{{sfn|Taylor|p=236}}