Acceptance of the
Nomination

Abraham Lincoln to George Ashmun
Holograph draft, May 23, 1860
Manuscript Division
Gift of Robert Todd Lincoln, 1923

In a letter to the Republican National Convention president George Ashmun of Massachusetts, Lincoln drafted this acceptance of the party's nomination and closed with these words:

Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the convention, to the rights of all the states, and territories, and people of the nation; to the inviolability of the constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity for all, I am most happy to cooperate for the practical success of the principles, declared by the convention--