Woodrow Wilson was elected with only 41% of the vote and Clinton with only 43%. But like Lincoln they won solid majorities in the Electoral College.
Well met, DoodleDawg.
Constitutionally Abe was the Prez. Unfortunately the war fever had been so well stirred by the fire breathers that emotion got the better of them all and tit for tat....people started shooting at each other.
As we all know, Abe went out of his way to publicly—in some of the greatest oratory ever delivered in the English language—to keep it together, but failed.
He even offered up slavery in perpetuity for the slave states, the oft cited reason for secession, but passions won out. By then is was about power and opportunism.
I would point out though, that them two critters you mentioned, Wilson and Clinton didn’t do us much of a service. Both likewise won out as minority candidates over splintered opposition (Teddy Roosevelt/Taft in 1912 and Bush41/Perot in 1992) and set in motion things I think we could all have done without.