WITH the end of the Draft Riots, Tweed turned to the plans
for the fall campaign. He was not pleased with the outlook.
Gunther, the wealthy fur dealer, who campaigned against
Opdyke in the last Mayoralty campaign, was not pliable enough
to suit Tweed. Gunther was powerful with the anti-war Demo-
crats. He was outspokenly pro-Southern. And Gunther
announced that he would run as an independent if Tweed did
not nominate him. Tweed decided to risk everything and
nominate Francis I. A. Boole for Mayor. Boole was a friend
of The Boss, and corrupt. Gunther was nominated by a group
of independents while the Republicans named Orison Blunt.
Opdyke had had his fill of politics. The Republicans had had
their fill of Opdyke, whose lack of decision during the Draft
Riots was still calling censure down upon him. Gunther car-
ried the city by a majority that topped Boole, his nearest rival,
by nearly 7,000. There were only 19,383 votes cast for Blunt,
an ardent pro-war Republican, and a supporter of Lincoln, who
did not have too many advocates among his partisans in New
York.

Blunt, in his campaign, might have quoted Lincoln's im-
mortal address at Gettysburg if Greeley or some other editor
had seen anything in it besides a perfunctory utterance of a
President of the United States. Lincoln had delivered his
dedicatory address two weeks before the Mayoralty election.
Every newspaper in the city -- and elsewhere so far as we know
-- made not a mention of it in their lead on the morning of
November 20. The speech was thus introduced in The Tribune:
"The President then delivered the following dedicatory ad-
dress." No correspondent thought of telling how he looked
or acted or spoke. The few simple words of Lincoln, after
Everett's classic oration, were unworthy of comment!

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