{"product_id":"address-cameron-lincoln-club-city-chicago-ill-people-ndukui1o","title":"Address of the Cameron and Lincoln Club of the City of Chicago, Ill., to the People of the North West.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImportant and desirable: a rare printed example proposing Abraham Lincoln for the Vice Presidency on a ticket headed by Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania for the November, 1860 election\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis “may prove to be one of the most desirable Lincoln rarities,” and “apparently is the earliest of the 1860 campaign documents which proposed the name of Abraham Lincoln as a candidate at the Chicago Convention. It may also be recognized as the first pamphlet to present a biographical sketch of Mr. Lincoln”\u003c\/strong\u003e (Warren).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharles Leib (1826-1865) was the architect behind the Cameron and Lincoln Club. Leib had a varied career as a doctor, newspaper editor, miner and government official. Having trained in Philadelphia, he seemingly abandoned medicine in 1856 when he moved to Illinois and established the \u003cem\u003eDemocratic Bugle\u003c\/em\u003e which supported James Buchanan’s presidential campaign. A falling out with Buchanan led to a change of affiliation and “he became active in Illinois as a promoter of the Republican presidential candidacy of Simon Cameron, like Leib another former Democrat. He became known as Cameron’s ‘chief bugler in the West,’ and he made local arrangements for Pennsylvania’s Cameron-favoring delegation at the Chicago Republican nominating convention. Presuming that Lincoln would be an ideal running mate for Cameron, Leib established a Cameron and Lincoln Club in Chicago. He is said to have pressed the case for such an alignment to Lincoln personally, claiming that the Republicans could not win the presidency in 1860 without the vote of his home state of Pennsylvania, with Cameron as the standard-bearer” (Davis).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe biographical sketch notes Lincoln’s humble beginnings and energy “\u003cstrong\u003efrom the ranks of the people, the architect of his own fortune. He had not the advantages in his youth of either schools or colleges, yet through his own exertions has obtained a most liberal and thorough education\u003c\/strong\u003e.” Furthermore, he was “an able lawyer [who] stands at the head of his profession in the central part of the State.” His record in Illinois and national politics establishes him as “\u003cstrong\u003eone of the ablest among the champions of freedom and free soil … an able debater and a profound Statesman. He has the popular heart of Illinois\u003c\/strong\u003e.” The pamphlet praises “the purity of his life, the nobleness of his heart, the fervor of his eloquence, the honesty of purpose … and the boldness with which he has ever battled for the right.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pamphlet is signed in type at the end by Fernando Jones, Chairman of the Club, and following it is a chart listing the Electoral Votes of the Free States [186] and the Slave States [120].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter Lincoln’s victory, Simon Cameron was appointed Lincoln’s first Secretary of War. Cameron was exiled the next year when named Ambassador to Russia in 1862. Charles Leib continued his support of Lincoln and became a political advisor. He edited Chicago’s pro-Lincoln paper the \u003cem\u003eRail Splitter\u003c\/em\u003e and was then appointed quartermaster at Clarksburg, West Virginia. The Senate denied the appointment due to suspicions of embezzling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOCLC locates copies at Huntington, Harvard, Lincoln Presidential Library, Allen City Library, Boston Athenaeum, Wisconsin Historical Society. We find just two at auction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnte-Fire Imprints, 448; not in Miles, Monaghan, Eberstadt, LCP, Bartlett, or Horrocks [Lincoln Campaign Biogs]; Anon., “Charles Leib” in \u003cem\u003eThe Papers of Abraham Lincoln\u003c\/em\u003e accessed online 2\/10\/2025 ; Davis, R.O., “Dr. Charles Leib Lincoln’s Mole?” in \u003cem\u003eJournal of the Abraham Lincoln Association\u003c\/em\u003e, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Summer, 2003), pp.27-28; Warren, L.A., ed. “An Early 1860 Campaign Pamphlet” in \u003cem\u003eLincoln Lore\u003c\/em\u003e (No. 834, April 2, 1945), p.8.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Maggs Bros.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47347493568669,"sku":"261089","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0669\/0045\/9677\/files\/261089_01.jpg?v=1761636671","url":"https:\/\/store.maggs.com\/products\/address-cameron-lincoln-club-city-chicago-ill-people-ndukui1o","provider":"Maggs Bros.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}