Virtual Trivia

Question 7: The Governor

April 7, 2021

Portrait of Gov. William A. Buckingham

Which sitting governor won the pivotal elections in 1860 and 1863 that allowed him, by being re-elected annually, to continue as governor for the duration of the Civil War?

William Buckingham

Democrat Thomas H. Seymour sympathized with the southern states’ concerns and was opposed to the Union cause. Republican Buckingham was against the extension of slavery and was strongly pro-Union. Had Buckingham lost these pivotal elections, the state might well have ended its support for the Lincoln administration and the Union.