Although he remained on cordial terms with Senator Seward , Greeley never seriously considered supporting him in his bid for the Republican nomination for president . Instead , during the run-up to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago , he pressed the candidacy of former Missouri representative Edward Bates , an opponent of the spread of slavery who had freed his own slaves . In his newspaper , in speeches , and in conversation , Greeley pushed Bates as a man who could win the North and even make inroads in the South . Nevertheless , when one of the dark horse candidates for the Republican nomination , Abraham Lincoln , came to New York to give an address at Cooper Union , Greeley urged his readers to go hear Lincoln , and was among those who accompanied him to the platform . Greeley thought of Lincoln as a possible nominee for vice president
1860 Republican National Convention
1860 Republican National Convention
Horace Greeley