Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky was the main Republican leader considered, but his southern state was of little help since there was no way the South was going to vote Republican, and he was considered too radical in any case. Hamlin was offered the nomination in part because he was on good terms with all of the Republican leaders, especially Seward, which would help keep the party unified during the election. Considered more moderate, he still had an outstanding anti-slavery record. He was given the nomination on the second ballot.
Hamlin had not sought the nomination, and was thoroughly surprised when he got the news that he was the new Vice Presidential nominee. The story goes that Hamlin was playing cards in his hotel room in Washington when the door burst open and the room suddenly filled with excited people. The leader of the happy throng was Indiana Congressman Schuyler Colfax (himself a future Vice President) who addressed Hamlin as “Mr. Vice President.”
Hamlin told the gathered Republicans that he didn’t want the office. Senator Benjamin Wade (who would later become the “Acting Vice President”) warned Hamlin that if he declined the nomination, it would give political ammunition to the Democrats who would say Hamlin was afraid to run on a loosing ticket. Hamlin realized Wade was right, and that he would have to accept the nomination.
Later, Hamlin wrote to his wife, “I neither expected or desired it. But it has been made and as a faithful man to the cause, it leaves me no alternative but to accept it.” He told her that at least the duties of the office would “not be hard or unpleasant.”
As was customary in those times, neither Lincoln nor Hamlin campaigned actively. But in a letter, Hamlin explained to Lincoln, “While I have been silent, I have never been so busy thro’ the Press and by personal effort endeavoring to strengthen weak points all along the line.” At that point in our history, Maine held its election in September due to the severe winter weather which usually set in by November. Republicans swept the Maine elections in September. In October, Hamlin went to Boston to march in a torchlight parade with Maine lumberjacks, Penobscot Indians, and Republican leaders. One of the more popular signs in these torchlight parades was one combining the names of Abraham Lincoln and Hamlin into “Abra/Hamlin/coln.”
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