l incoln’s s hadow 65
won control, governing instead through their expanded executive
authority. Further, the Republican press became a major propaganda
instrument, supporting administration policy and giving wide circu-
lation to its views. Some Republican newspapers expressed criticism of
the administration in the run-up to the 1862 elections, which con-
tributed to the party’s losses. Th e president and other party leaders
responded by using their control over printing contracts to rein in the
dissenting Republican editors. From that point forward, the admin-
istration made certain its message was heard. When Lincoln wrote
letters in 1863 and 1864 defending his controversial actions, such as
emancipation, conscription, and suspending the writ of habeas corpus,
his missives received wide circulation, fi rst in party newspapers and
then in pamphlets printed by the party.
Th e Republican organization could also turn public skepticism about
partisanship during wartime into a club with which to batter foes of the
war. As Mark E. Neely Jr. observes, many northerners thought partisan
competition should be suspended for the duration of the confl ict. In
their outlook, the idea of “loyal opposition” had no clearly defi ned
place; if a party stood against the war, that stance seemed more like
sedition than legitimate policy disagreement in a healthy political
system. Nor had American parties made a habit of cultivating mod-
eration or political civility. “Carelessly pressing charges of treason and
tyranny,” Neely comments, “was the way the system worked at election
time and had for years.” ^
Given the dominant role that the South had played in the Demo-
cratic Party, Republicans found it easy to associate antiwar Democrats
with secession. Republican newspapers then stoked fears of Demo-
cratic betrayal and conspiracy. Disappointing results from the front
and the dogged resistance of the Confederacy were depicted by Repub-
licans as the result of evil political designs in the North: the “Slave
Power” received aid and comfort from Democratic politicians,
including Representative Clement Vallandigham of Ohio and Democrat-
supported secret societies that hatched plans for the Northwest to
break away from the Union and reach a separate peace with the
South. With his partisan allies so willing to smear the opposition,
Lincoln himself did not need to engage in the attacks or accuse war
critics of disloyalty.