LOL. He was a man neither the North or South wanted. He ended up going to Canada. And he was about as much of a patriot as Cindy Shehan(sp?)is today.
Let me ask you this. Say tomorrow, Castro were able to cut off our sea lanes into GTMO and told the Marines there the to pack up and get the hell off Cuban soil. The base commander sends a message that they are running out of food and water.
You're the Commander in Chief. What do you do about it?
Ridiculous analogy. Castro's Cuba is not, you know, HALF THE UNITED STATES. Sorta stupid comparison, wouldn't you say?
Also, Vallandigham was not alone. Lincoln had many people silenced and/or locked up for their anti-war views, this was nothing new. And Vallandigham was popular enough to come back and have a decent shot at being elected gov of a northern state. Yeah sure, he lost (Lincoln downplayed deporting him and endorsed his rival) but who cares, guy still got a sizable portion of the vote with the president actively campaigning against him and for his rival! Wow.
Vallandigham was no Cindy Shehan. He was a senator who was expelled for speaking about against a way unpopular war (imagine if the AWOL rate today was 94%!!) without charges or trial and he came back after the war to make a decent run for gov in a northern state.