Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Civil War Prompt 2
After viewing the film 'Glory' and learning about the Battle of Gettysburg today in class, what possible costs to Lincoln could the formation of African-American regiments and a seemingly endless duration to the war have on his political future? What mistakes have haunted him from the beginning of the war to this point? Post two comments.
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The prospect of forming African-American regiments was, quite obviously, very controversial. The original fear, as expressed by many of Lincoln's cabinet members, was that the border states may secede and take the side of the confederacy if the former slaves are allowed to fight. Another aspect of the African-American regiments that could put Lincoln's political future in danger was the conscription act. This law allowed draftees to hire replacements for themselves, which meant that it was mainly the immigrants and working class men that ended up in the army since they could not afford to hire substitutes. These men, furious that they were to fight amongst free slaves and weary of the competition the free slaves would later bring them, raised many issues for Lincoln politically. The long duration of the war was also to blame for Lincoln's poor track record of the time. Numerous sources have stated how many thought that the Civil War would be a quick and rather painless war. Due largely in part to McClellen, the war was actually quite the opposite which made people think that Lincoln was not doing an efficient job at carrying out the war.
The main mistake that Lincoln made throughout the Civil War was suspending habeas corpus, originally in order to prevent Maryland from joining Virginia at the very beginning of the war. This occurred on numerous occasions and sparked much controversy.
As we have learned and previously read in FTR, the Union was anti-slavery but not in favor of equal rights. The idea of enlisting all black regiments was certainly a dangerous one. For Lincoln, there could possibly have been immediate political ramifications. More conservative northerners would not like the idea of blacks fighting for a country based upon whites. Furthermore, there is the danger of the black regiments causing more immediate problems. Has these men realized they were only being used for the white mans benefit, it is reasonable to think they may have rebelled against authority or harmed the effort in some other manner.
I think Lincoln's mistake was being too calm at the onset of the war. Once it was clear McClellan was a moronic leader Lincoln needed to act. The Union army had every advantage they could desire yet nothing was done. Had something been done immediately the war could have ended as fast as it began.
Frederick Douglass said the following quote: "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1862caused the Civil War to became a war against slavery. Though Lincoln's primary goal was to keep the Union united, the emancipation brought slaverly as a forefront issue as well. Thus the issue of African American regiments was a testiment to the role slavery was and would play in the war, as seen in Mr. Douglas's quote.
The seemingly endless war served only to increase tensions withen Union Congressmen and citizens, who thought the war would be a quick and easy deal. Thus as the war kept going, and casualties kept increasing, there was an increase in opposition against Lincoln.
I believe Lincoln's selection of George McClellan initially was a mistake that haunted him for a while. McClellan clearly prolonged the war losing battles that could easily have been Union victories.
The creation of African-American regiments caused a great controversy as the Confederates would obviously be upset over the new army members. The threat that the Border States might secede to the South was heightened when these new regiments were created. Not all of Lincoln's cabinet supported his plans of action and were also worried about the border states seceding.
In addition, the idea of free slaves caused discord among some in the north as the lower classes did not want competition for jobs which the slaves would have access to after they receive their freedom.
I agree with Chris in that Lincoln should have acted in response to McClellan earlier. He realized that McClellan was not attacking, even joked about the this stalling tactic ("if you're not going to use the army, can I use them?") At that point, Lincoln should have taken action. However contrary to what Chris said, I think Lincoln had to be a calm leader. AS a leader od a nation in a Civil War, Lincoln has the responsibilty to think before he acted. A leader who panics or is too agressive can lead to greater damage.
Lincoln’s choice of generals was one of the major mistakes that he had made in regards to the Civil War. Choosing McClellan caused the war to start off slowly and although they had the resources and soldiers to easily conquer the South, they did not take strong enough action in the beginning.
I agree with Ritu that Lincoln did have to be a level-headed and patient leader but if he was going to go into war he should act with power so that the war would not drag on for months and months.
At first he did not want to go to war with the South but should have been more prepared for it and chose generals with a better sense of strategy.
Well obviously the issue of a black regiments is bound to push some buttons. As seen in the film Glory, race tension ran high even among the men in the regiment. The soldiers felt they should not die for a country in which they were not free and equal and the officers had their own racial qualms about the soldiers. Also, there was the larger problem of the border states not approving such a maneuver and seceding which was still a fear. This obviously did not bode well for Lincoln's political future. This was fortunately not a mistake but Lincoln had others which weighed him down. His biggest fault was the hiring of incompetent generals like McClelllan (we all know how I feel about him.). Lincoln's sometimes poor and always controversial decisions threatened his political future.
In response to Alicja's comment, I agree that Lincoln should have picked better generals, but it was not entirely his fault. He wanted Lee but then Virginia seceded and that was no longer an option. Lincoln unfortunately went from the cream of the crop with choices like Lee to the refuse that was McClellan. Just a shame.
As to the African American regiments- such a prospect would inevitably ruffle some feathers. Regardless of our stereotypes, the North was not all pro-equality. Some were not even anti-slavery. Lincoln, our alleged "emancipator of slaves", certainly never advocated that blacks be equal to whites. if blacks were allowed to fight in the war, many may see that as a step towards racial equality, and fear would ensue. Those believing the "animal"-like depiction of slaves may feel that putting a musket in their hands would only provoke them to "attack" or "revolt."
Lincoln performed admirably in the Civil War and is often looked upon as one of our greatest presidents. However, he is human and has made political mistakes. Like Chris and Ritu have said, Lincoln did not make a good choice with McClellan. Yes he did originally want Lee, but McClellan is not a good "back up." When Lincoln joked about borrowing the army, we all laugh at the witty epigram. However, i would bet he actually did regret not acting on this whim. Allowing his army to sit like ducks for so long cost the Union dearly.
When forming African-American regiments, Lincoln risked a decrease in popular support contributing to more political divisiveness. There were a few groups he wouldn’t want to offend. One was the conservative group in the north that felt some degree of sympathy for the south. They could be offended by the allowance of black regiments and decide forcefully undermine a cohesive war effort. This action would seem to lead to a prolonged war. People were getting tired of the war, so Lincoln could have been adding fuel to the fire. On the other side, people like Frederick Douglas who were passionately in favor of including black regiments might be angered if Lincoln did not push hard enough to accommodate them. Additional internal instability could not be afforded especially since many were already upset with the suspension of habeas corpus. Lincoln also did not want to enrage any of the border states, which were essential to a Union victory. To risk secession of more states would be to risk losing the war. Lastly, black regiments would emit more hatred from the south, a caustic consequence that would inhibit reconstruction and forming political unity after the war.
Lincoln’s biggest mistake seems that he did not attack the south aggressively enough at the beginning of the war, whether that was McClellan’s fault or not. At the end of the day, Lincoln was McClellan’s supervisor. Although he still wanted the south to come back, a diplomatic approach was not working and war was becoming, inevitably, the only option. If he had only recognized this sooner, he could have ended the war swiftly so that the least amount of damage would be caused, in terms of casualties and feelings. The south would not have thought of themselves as an independent nation for as long, making admitting them back into the Union easier. Feelings of resentment, most likely, would not have been as strong if the war ended quicker.
MARIANNE POSTING UNDER CASEY'S NAME!!!! MARIANNE:
Lincoln's decision regarding African American regiments clearly had an eventual impact on his political career. The was was meant to resolve the issue of slavery, but by making African Americans quite equal to white men fighting in the war, Lincoln went beyond his boundaries. The majority of the North may not have wanted slavery but they certainly did not all believe African Americans deserved the same rights as they themselves. Generally speaking, it was truly a split in the country he was supposed to unite WITH the South that impacted his political career. As more and more northerners became agitated by the utter equality, as Ritu's Fredrick Douglass quote explains, the nation that represented the "union" became more and more divided.
I believe we need to watch the rest of "Glory" to find out.
But otherwise, the implementation of African-American regiments and a lengthy war negatively impacted Lincoln’s public image and threatened to destroy his chance at re-election. Although northerners supported an end of slavery, many still possessed discriminatory views towards Blacks and grew uneasy at the prospect of a fully armed and trained Black army. Furthermore, a string of early losses altered the view of a short war and caused northerners to rethink the qualifications of those leading the war effort. Many questioned the leadership which was not able to quell a bunch of angry farmers in the south, and instead lost many key battles to the confederate army.
MARIANNE COMMENTING UNDER CASEY'S NAME!!!! MARIANNE:
I agree with Casey's comment: feathers were indeed ruffled. It is true that there were some Northerners that did not even totally agree with anti-slavery, let alone equality. And indeed we all did giggle at that witty epigram, but McClellen truly didn't use the army. A mailbox could have done a better job with the army, so Lincoln shouldn't have felt obligated, after Lee's refusal, to just allow McClellen continue in his lackadaisical efforts with the army.
In response to Marianne's second comment (under Casey's name) perhaps McClellan, while in hindsight may seem like a mistake, may have actually employed his move and resupply tactics to give Lincoln more time to avert war. Perhaps, McClellan recognized the futility of war and wished to utilize mobile tactics to scare the enemy into submission while buying Lincoln some political standing through amassing a huge army.
The creation of black regiments in the army was a highly controversial decision. Many felt that, as a result of letting former slaves fight, the border states would secede and join the Confederacy. Additionally racial tension still ran high between the officers of these regiments and the soliders they commanded. As for the duration of the war, this caused a problem in the same way which any long war does. Eventually the public begins to grow tired of such wars and they always blame the length on the President who initiated the war.
I agree with Kinney's assertion that Lincoln's major mistake was his choice in generals. Letting McClellen be in charge of anything more important to the war effort then the delivary of mail was a disaster waiting to happen and Lincoln should have known this. This being said Lincoln didn't really have many choices. As proven by his other picks for the position (excluding Grant) the North just didnt have a surplus of great, or even good Generals. The exceptions to this are obviously Grant and Sherman, however at the time they were relatively unknown and Lincoln couldn't just choose a seemingly no-name general to be in charge of his whole war effort.
Although Lincoln allowed for African-American regiments to be formed, they never actually fought, according to our text book. The mere thought that former slaves could be fighting on the battlefields enraged the Confederates and made it more tense along the border states, for there was an even clearer line that separated the north and the south.
We learned in class that the Civil War was "a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight" which is extremely evident in the conscription act, where wealthy draftees could pay their way out of military service. This, in my opinion, was a huge mistake on Lincoln's part because it increases the gap between rich and poor, and is a blow to his morals. EVERYONE should've been united in the fight against the rebels, even the elite.
One of Lincoln's other flaws was that he allowed General McClellan to control the Union forces for so long. He clearly did not follow Lincoln's orders and should have been removed from his position as soon as he disobeyed the president.
When Lincoln allowed black people to join the army, he changed the motive behind the war. Instead of a fight for state rights, the Civil War became a fight for slavery. With the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln risked losing support from his party, and the loyalty of the border states. On the other hand, freeing slaves was a smart decision because it allowed for more soldiers to fight in the army, and it disrupted Southern economy, since the South depended on its slaves for its industry. I guess in some ways, the freeing of slaves made the war end quicker, as endless as it seems. After all the South already had nothing-poor supplies, lack of industries- slaves were probably the last straw, and what would have the biggest impact out of the three. If Lincoln did not free the slaves, yes there would probably be less controversy, but the war would probably drag on even longer as slaves were another incentive for people to fight.
In response to Alex's response to Marianne's comment (under Casey's name) I have to disagree. McClellan outright disobeyed his boss, while planning to run against him in the next election. In any organization, ESPECIALLY in times of war, there must be complete trust between leaders who are on the same side. McClellan should have been agreeing with Lincoln, not going against orders. How can you possibly have a unified nation when generals disobey the commander-in-chief?
Although the Battle of Gettysburg was a Union victory, it was also the bloodiest battle of the war and dealt a blow to Lincoln's war effort. As the Union Army decreased in numbers due to casualties, more soldiers were needed to replace the ranks. After Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga in 1863, overall victory seemed at hand, and Lincoln promoted Ulysses S. Grant General-in-Chief on March 12, 1864. Lincoln provided Grant with new replacements and mobilized his party to support Grant and win local support for the war effort. Only when he found that Grant shared the same ideals as he did, could LIncoln include African Americans into the troops. Lincoln possessed a keen understanding of strategic points (such as the Mississippi River and the fortress city of Vicksburg) and understood the importance of defeating the enemy's army, instead of just capturing cities.
In response to Casey's comment (the real Casey, not Marianne), i completely agree with your last statement that many believed that putting guns and other artillery into the hands of former slaves would provoke them to attack or revolt. I think that was the biggest fear or worry of the time - not that a white man would have to fight side by side with a black man who is so clearly below him, but rather that putting guns in the black man's hands can enable him to act on his resentment to the white man. I believe the main reason the white men of the union did not want to fight alongside the black men was out of fear, not hate.
I liked what rachel pointed out, "When forming African-American regiments, Lincoln risked a decrease in popular support contributing to more political divisiveness." We often see Lincoln today as this symbol of freedom and emancipation because people back then thought he was completely radical. He did risk losing some support from people because what he was proposing is so unorthodox, but like Mr. O pointed out in class, Lincoln in our time would be considered as racist.
As seen in the movie 'Glory,' African Americans were still viewed as inferiors. Thus, they were sent on the worst missions or were even kept back by Generals due to their image. In 'Glory' this was well depicted by the troops ransacking of random towns and white regiment's lack of respect for the black one. This ties in with the conscription act, which was highly controversial due to their putting alongside free slaves. Another mistake was promoting McClellan who, as anyone could see, failed miserably as the leader of Union Army. Even when outnumbering Confederate regiments 10 to 1, he clearly lost in every sense. It could have been a quick war had Lincoln promoted efficient generals. But with their hesitancy, the war was dragged on for many long and bloody years.
STEFANIE SEQUEIRA::::::::
The formation of African-American regiments and a seemingly endless duration to the war obviously had a negative effect on Lincoln's political future. The biggest feared result of enlisting the African-Americans lay in the possibility of the border states seceding into the Confederacy. However, Union soldiers also did not want to serve with African Americans,even though they were anti-slavery. Lincoln was a passionate abolitionist, but we learned that he was still a racist. White soldiers didn't feel right fighting besides the blacks, especially since the white soldiers were already angry that they couldn't afford to pay to get out of service. Union workers were also nervous that if the African-Americans were given the right to serve, they would be given more freedoms and the workers would lose their jobs in factories and such. Such controversy throughout the Union was clearly not good for Lincoln. The seemingly endless duration to the war didn't help either because people were frustrated and did not want to fight as adamantly after seeing everyone dying around them.
I believe Lincoln's biggest mistake was not being decisive and aggressive. It took him a while to announce decisions about Fort Sumter, which led people to call him weak. McClellan was a lousy general who made bad decisions and prolonged the war, but Lincoln should've seen this and replaced him earlier on.
In response to Alex, I highly doubt McClellan refused to attack the south because he wanted to avert war. He was indeed a pacifist, but that idea seems down right silly. In a time of war no general, atleast I hope no general, would be dumb enough to wait for things to settle. If there is a wartime situation there is no excuse for not attacking when the conditions heavily favor your side. So even if he believed the war effort was futile, he is in no position to determine that. If he doesn't like the idea of war, then he chose to incorrect career path.
In response to Alex's comment, the notion that McClellan acted so hesitantly to help Lincoln's political stance seems a bit outrageous. McClellan clearly did not engage in war because he thought the Confederate army was larger than his own and was too busy drilling his troops in the North. Avoiding war was definitely impossible at this time and highly unlikely that the incompetent general "recognized the futility of war." If he was in fact trying to avoid war he would not have sent such a large army to the South. Even if you say that this was part of his plan to "scare the enemy," there would not be so many reports of him actually saying that he needed reinforcements and supplies.
STEFANIE SEQUEIRA::::::::
"Lastly, black regiments would emit more hatred from the south, a caustic consequence that would inhibit reconstruction and forming political unity after the war."
I think this point Rachel made was a little overlooked by most of us, but is really important. Lincoln had to take into account the future implications of involving the blacks in the war. A quick, peaceful reconstruction after the war would definitely be slowed down by the tension that would still be apparent between the North and South due to the fact that the blacks were in the war. Not enlisting them would save a least a little tension while trying to unify after the war. However, immediate implications proved more vital than future ones, and it seemed a good chance to enlist the blacks as soldiers.
wow, since kinney almost said the exact same thing right before me, I guess I should add "I completely agree with Chris" to my second post.
An African-American regiment was controversial choice and a dangerous move politically for Lincoln. Although the North wanted to abolish slavery, the majority were not advocates of equal rights. This could defiantly be seen as a step towards that equality. The Confederates were also obviously extremely upset about the African-American regiment.
The choice of McClellen to run the army for such a long period of time, even after Lincoln saw his incompetence was something that reflected on Lincoln and perhaps elongated the war and ended in more conflicts later and more deaths overall.
The Civil War was like a game of chess for both the Union and the Confederacy. Each leader, Davis and Lincoln, had their every move watched, which would ultimately create or destroy their political persona. In the case of Lincoln, I feel that his handling with the time frame of the war was falsely judged because he was not in true control of the war movements made by the Union. However, Lincoln did control the usage of African-Americans as Union soldiers. This caused inevitable controversy, as seen in Glory when (I think the Confederacy made this rule) that if any black man was caught fighting, he would be killed, and likewise for a white commander with blacks fighting for him. The ultimate issue at stake was the appeal to Border States. The Confederacy and Union made attempts to attract the support of Border States. Lincoln's actions in dealing with the Border States had to be strategic - some states advocated slavery while others did not. If Lincoln were to emancipate slaves and allow them to fight, he would face the potential loss of support from some Border States. This overall concept was addressed on pg. 515-ish I want to say, in our textbook.
To sum it all up, Lincoln had to act strategically when deciding whether or not to have African-Americans fight in the war because it would determine the outcome of gaining support of border states or not, which had a sort of domino effect... If one state joined the Union, another would, then another, and another, and so on.
To continue the second idea of the time frame of the war effecting Lincoln's political persona, I believe Lincoln was unjustly criticized when it was not his doings that extended the duration of the war.
This was seen unnecessarily prevalent with McClellan. He prolonged attacks on the Confederacy because he believed war should be handled with "maneuvering" and not battle. With this theory, the Civil War would still be in action today with a super-old and dumb McClellan still "maneuvering" his men. Lincoln constantly criticized McClellan's actions and at points felt the need to take on McClellan's job himself.
Lincoln's political future was really shaped and changed by his handling of the war. His belief in emancipation of slaves for soldier purposes clearly put the border states on "the line." However, I believe it is an unjust and rash decision for one to say Lincoln's action directly extended the duration of the war.
Firstly, the formation of African American regiments and a seemingly endless duration of war crippled Lincoln's political future. There was great controversy about his allowing African Americans to fight in the war, which even northern supporters among the critics, took away some of Lincolns support. And the endless war did not help his stature as president because his own men would be dying for a longer period of time and the nation would be in disrepair for a longer amount of time. He was meant and thought to unify the nation, and it appeared that all he was doing was ripping it apart, and that the can of worms would never be closed.
The mistakes that have haunted Lincoln from the begining of the war to this point, agreeing with Ryan, is the trust placed in McCellan to lead the troops. McCellan stalemated the already momentous war that was taking place and therfore gave the Confedarates oppurtunities to stump and crush the Union. Another mistake that Lincoln made was suspending habeous corpus becuase of the controversy that ensused from such action. Agreeing with Amy on that point, if Lincoln had not suspended habeous corpus, he might have had even more support than he did.
The formation of African-American regiments was a a pretty large gamble on Lincoln's part. One example of this risk is obvious judging by the Union's view of slavery. While the idea of anti-slavery existed in the North, in many cases, that was the extent of Northerners' view on Black people, who were still not considered equal. Also, he risked his political future as well as the war because many believed the border states would join the Confederacy if African Americans were added as troops to the war effort. In addition the South asserted they would kill any white officers who commanded Black regiments. This could be viewed by the Northerners as a betrayal as Lincoln was almost placing African American soldiers' desire to fight above the lives of his White officers.
In response to Ryan's post regarding Lincoln's effect on the duration of the war, I agree that Lincoln should not be held completely at fault for the long duration of the war. The strategies employed by some of his generals and officers, namely McClellan, effectively prolonged the war by acting timidly as opposed to Lincoln's persistent call for action, which would have ended the Civil War much sooner had it been followed. Ultimately, Lincoln's original plans called for a decisive victory however they were drawn out by factors out of his control.
The formation of the African American regiments were more of a problem than they were beneficial, in my opinion. There was dissention among the ranks between the free slaves and the working class soldiers, particularly the Irish immigrants, who were worried about future competition for employment. Lincoln had already lost a great deal of support and was held in question for the suspension of Habeus Corpus, controversy within his own army was not something that was necessary to cope with. The commanding officers of the African-American regiments were not even willing to let them fight, so basically a lot of time, money, and effort was put into training, housing, feeding, and conditioning a large group of inactive soldiers for a longer time than necessary until they were finally allowed to see battle.
I agree with Kyle's first comment. Lincoln hired incompetant generals that jeopardized the integrity of the union with their cowardly tactical decisions (*cough*McLellan*cough*) and overall rookie style of fighting. With the resources the North had, there is no excuse for why they didn't educate their generals or even hire some from abroad. Outsourcing for the military leaders of one's country is, yes, self-deprecating and embarassing, but it's better to have a French or English (I know... I know...) general commanding your troops than an arrogant imbecile like McLellan who refuses to take orders from the Commander In Chief and refuses to take any kind of risks at all. He should have been an accountant. Anyway. The Union had the funds to educate their generals and the manpower to buy them some time. Sending noobs into the war was a colossal mistake.
The formation of African-American regiments and a seemingly endless duration to the war would be devastating on his political future. First, with African-American regiments, other Union soldiers would feel uncomfortable and there would be dissent within the army. As stated before, while the Union was anti-slavery, they did not necessarily want blacks to have the same rights and privelages. In addition, his already uneasy ground with Northern Democrats would continue to grow, due their more pro-South way. It would be dangerous to have blacks fight, as well, because they would try to seek revenge against the South, an attitude that only causes trouble and irrational decisions.
After Gettysburg, both the North and the South realized that the war is going to be much longer. In the beginning, both sides thought that it would only last one year! With the 1864 elections coming the next year, the strength of the Union Army and the faith voters have with Lincoln would be the deciding factors.
Lincoln faced many mistakes during the war. The first was the suspensino of habeus corpus in the border states to ensure that they remain in the Union. Particularly in Maryland, Lincoln violated the Constitution, because he did so without Congress's approval. Another mistake for Lincoln was the appointment of General McClellan as the Union General. McClellan was a horrible general, who was too conservative and waited too long to fight. In the Peninsula Campaign, he outnumbered Lee's forces by over 10 to 1, and still waited. As Lincoln saw the incompetency of McClellan, he probably regretted not persuading Robert E. Lee more to join the Union.
The formation of African-American regiments jeopordized Lincoln's popularity as a political figure. Although the North was opposed to slavery, the vast majority of the nation did not believe that African-Americans should have equal rights as citizens of European descent. As a result, fighting alongside the African Americans in the war was a highly controversial idea.
The war dragging on endlessly also harmed Lincoln politically. Obviously, no country likes to be in war but the fact that the Civil war was thought to only be a conflict lasting a few weeks turning into a bloody war of several years did not sit well with the citizens.
Lincoln's biggest mistake was not taking action earlier in the war. The union general McClellan refused to send the army to attack first. However, Lincoln should have stepped in and send the army into the south. The north definitely had the advantage in terms of resource, men, and industry. He should have pursued his advantage. If he had done so earlier, the war probably would have ended sooner.
The formation of African-American regiments cost Lincoln the support of many Northerners including abolitionists. Although the abolitionists were against the institution of slavery, they were not necessarily for the rights of African-Americans or equality. The North most likely was astonished that Lincoln would allow them to fight as soldiers alongside the rest of the army. The idea of African-American soldiers would also have given the Confederates more reason to keep fighting and resist coming back to the Union. The seemingly endless duration to the war also lost the support of many Americans. Both the South and North expected the war to last no more than three months; however when the war kept drawling on and on, neither side could see the end. Northerners would have been clearly disappointed in Lincoln for allowing the war to go on and would criticize his policies, good or bad. The war’s duration would have been blamed on Lincoln and his “inability” to do his job right. Both of these factors brought down the possibility of Lincoln’s political future. A controversial issue that occurred during his presidency, Sherman’s March, may have also altered the way Lincoln was viewed. Since this is such a controversial issue, support may have been either lost or won but it did have an affect on the way Americans viewed Lincoln (this event happened after the reelection). Although some may argue that picking McClellan was a mistake that haunted him throughout his presidency, the decision could not have been avoided because of the lack of good generals. Lincoln was generally an unappreciated president at the time of his office. He was not recognized for making crucial decisions, keeping the union together, and possibly avoiding further conflict(s). The most likely reasons that Lincoln was reelected were to avoid changing presidents between the war and to avoid McClellan from being elected.
In response to Marianne's second comment:
I agree with Marianne when she said, " A mailbox could have done a better job with the army, so Lincoln shouldn't have felt obligated, after Lee's refusal, to just allow McClellen continue in his lackadaisical efforts with the army." Lincoln should not have felt obligated to let McClellen sit and wait. McClellan's lack of decision actually prolonged the war and cost more lives, had he attacked the Confederate army outright instead of "regrouping". Lincoln could have chosen another general, maybe with less experience that would have done a better job then McClellan did.
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