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 States Senate. It also strengthened him with the Democrats of the North generally and made it practically certain that he would be their candidate for the presidency in 1860. But it made it absolutely certain that the entire pro-slavery South would repudiate and reject him. When this result of Lincoln's masterful leadership was appreciated by the Republican party throughout the land, and when Seward and others repeated the keynote of the conflict to which he had given voice there was no longer any uncertainty as to the future. Lincoln was the destined leader of the new party and his policy was to be its policy.

In the congressional elections of 1858 the Republicans made considerable gains. When the Thirty-sixth Congress met in December, 1859 the Democrats had control of the Senate, but the House was almost evenly divided. John Sherman was the Republican candidate for the Speakership and for eight weeks there was a deadlock over the election. Sherman finally withdrew in favor of William Pennington of New Jersey who was thereupon elected.

Then came the fateful year of 1860. In his commanding place as a Senator from the State of New York Seward seemed to be the foremost Republican candidate for the Presidency. But his very prominence counted against him since it meant that he had incurred strong antagonisms. There were many who thought him too radical in some of his views. The same was true of Salmon P. Chase of Ohio who was also prominent as a candidate. But Lincoln was looked upon as more conservative, as free from enmities and rivalries and as the most "available" of all. Besides, his debate with Douglass had indubitably marked him as the