John C. Breckinridge ran for President in the complicated 1860 election, which ultimately led to the Civil War. A lifelong Kentucky Democrat and sitting Vice President, Breckinridge ran as the candidate of the Southern Democratic party, a splinter group made up of those pro-slavery Democrats who felt that the national Democratic party wasn’t strong enough in its commitment to protecting and extending slavery. The split in the Democratic party almost guaranteed the victory of the Republican party and the election of Abraham Lincoln, helping to bring about the Civil War. Breckinridge came in second in the four-way race’s electoral votes, winning 72, but came in third in the popular vote, winning just 18%. Abraham Lincoln beat him handily.
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