1865 Tennessee gubernatorial election
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 Government |
The 1865 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on March 4, 1865, to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic governor Andrew Johnson was appointed by Abraham Lincoln on March 12, 1862, as a military governor. Johnson's Unionist government emerged following a series of Union military victories that reclaimed most of Tennessee.[1] Johnson was subsequently elected vice president on the National Union ticket, succeeding Lincoln's first vice president, Hannibal Hamlin.[2] He appointed Edward H. East to serve as acting governor between his inauguration as vice president on March 4, 1865 and the scheduled inauguration of the elected governor.[3]
Delegates of the Unconditional Union Party nominated Parson Brownlow for governor during their convention in Nashville on January 14, 1865. Johnson's Ironclad Oath had effectively disenfranchised pro-Confederate citizens, and other potential Unionists candidates declined to challenge Brownlow.[4]
On March 4, Brownlow was elected with 99.85% of the vote.[5]: 261 The vote met President Lincoln's "1/10th test," which recognized elections in Southern states if the total vote was at least one-tenth the total vote in the 1860 presidential election.[5]
Tennessee would be completely brought back into the United States in 1866, without having to go through the Congressional Reconstruction.
General election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unconditional Union | Parson Brownlow | 23,352 | 99.85% | ||
| Others | 35 | 0.15% | |||
| Total votes | 23,387 | 100.00% | |||
Notes
- ^ Miscamble & Miscamble 1978, pp. 309–10.
- ^ McKinney 1978, p. 28.
- ^ Graf & Haskins 1979, p. 245.
- ^ McKinney 1978, p. 28; Miscamble & Miscamble 1978, pp. 318n53, 313, 319–20.
- ^ a b c E. Merton Coulter, William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1999).
- ^ Dubin 2014, p. 3.
Bibliography
- Dubin, Michael J. (2014). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861–1911: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
- Graf, Leroy P.; Haskins, Ralph S., eds. (1979). The Papers of Andrew Johnson. Vol. 5, 1861–1862. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
- McKinney, Gordon B. (1978). Southern Mountain Republicans, 1865–1900: Politics and the Appalachian Community. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
- Miscamble, Wilson D.; Miscamble, William G. (Fall 1978). "Andrew Johnson and the Election of William G. ("Parson") Brownlow As Governor or Tennessee". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 37 (3): 308–20.