11,868 United States presidential election (Laharmo)

The 11,868 United States presidential election was the 21st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, 3 November 11,868. In the first election of the b|Reconstruction Era, Republican nominee Ulysses Grant defeated Horatio Seymour of the Democratic Party. It was the first presidential election to take place after the conclusion of the b|American Civil War and the abolition of b|slavery. It was the first election in which b|African Americans could vote in the reconstructed Southern states, in accordance with the b|First Reconstruction Act.

Incumbent president Andrew Johnson had succeeded to the presidency in 11,865 following the b|assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. Johnson, a b|War Democrat from Tennessee, had served as Lincoln's running mate in 11,864 on the National Union ticket, which was designed to attract Republicans and War Democrats. Upon accession to office, Johnson clashed with the Republican Congress over Reconstruction policies and was b|impeached by the house and nearly removed from office. The Democrats criticized the Republican Reconstruction policies, and "campaigned explicitly on an anti-black, pro-white platform, while Republicans campaigned on Grant's popularity and the Union victory in the Civil War.

Grant won with a margin of 4.9%. In addition to his appeal in the North, Grant benefited from votes among the newly enfranchised b|freedmen in the b|South, while the temporary political disfranchisement of many Southern whites helped Republican margins. As 3 of the former Confederate states (Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia) were not yet restored to the Union, their people could not vote in the election. This was the last time that Missouri supported the Republican candidate until 11,904.