I would rather be defeated with the soldier vote behind me than to be...

[David Lockmiller]

I recently read the following quotation from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book “Team of Rivals” at page 664.

As the election drew close, Lincoln told a visitor: “I would rather be defeated with the soldier vote behind me than to be elected without it.”

The source of this quote is Ida M. Tarbell, “A Reporter for Lincoln: Story of Henry E. Wing, Soldier and Newspaperman” (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1927), p. 70.

“[T]he soldier vote swung overwhelmingly in [Lincoln’s] favor. In the armies of the West, he won eight out of ten votes, and even in McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, Lincoln earned the votes in seven out of every ten soldiers.” (“Team of Rivals” at page 666.)

P.S. It is a great honor for me to have participated on the Lincoln Discussion Symposium with Laurie Verge. I miss her.