Matthew Pinsker is author of “Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln” and the Substack series: What Would Lincoln Do?
There was once an American who voted for both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In this year of the nation’s 250th anniversary, you should know his name.
On Friday, Nov. 2, 1792, John Phillips, a 32-year-old farmer from Sturbridge, Massachusetts, cast a ballot to help reelect Washington. That contest was essentially the nation’s first popular election for U.S. president. Seventy-two years later, at the age of 104, Phillips left the same family farm in western Massachusetts where he had been born and joined with more than 2 million other men from 25 participating states to help reelect Lincoln as commander in chief of the war-torn nation. “Deacon John” as his neighbors called him, voted in every presidential election during those intervening decades of growing American democracy, except for the pivotal 1860 contest, which he missed because of illness during his centennial year.
But in 1864, amid the ongoing Civil War, which he considered to be a “wicked rebellion,” Phillips was determined to do his civic duty. With help from his 79-year-old son, Edward, Phillips rode into Sturbridge on a small carriage adorned with U.S. flags.
A contingent of Union soldiers carried him inside the town hall. Everyone took off their hats and regarded the Revolutionary War veteran with a kind of awe. Phillips insisted on shaking hands with the soldiers who were present. Then he was presented with a choice of ballots.
In those days, there was no privacy at the polling place, nor even a single, official government-issued ballot. Instead, voters made their choice in public by handing in tickets printed from party newspapers. In 1864, that choice was either a ticket for the Northern Democratic Party, whose candidate was Gen. George McClellan, or one for the National Union party, whose candidate was incumbent President Lincoln. “I vote for Abraham Lincoln,” Phillips, a self-proclaimed “Jeffersonian Democrat,” said to loud applause.
The next day, a local minister named F.W. Emmons wrote a letter to the White House describing the remarkable scene and enclosing a pamphlet about Phillips. And within days, Northern newspapers were celebrating the “venerable” and patriotic voter. Lincoln responded with his own letter of gratitude on Nov. 21: “The example of such devotion to civic duties in one whose days have already extended an average life time beyond the Psalmist’s limit, cannot but be valuable and fruitful. It is not for myself only, but for the country which you have in your sphere served so long and so well, that I thank you.”
The sprightly centenarian wanted the last word, however. On Jan. 16, 1865, Phillips (whose health regimen had always included tobacco — which he no longer recommended for America’s youths) had only recently lost his ability to read and write. But he dictated this response to Lincoln. “I feel that I have no desire to live but to see the conclusion of this wicked rebellion,” he said. “I [believe] by the help of God you will accomplish the first—and also be the means of establishing universal freedom and restoring peace to the Union.” He died the next month.
The “Psalmist’s limit” that Lincoln referenced was “four score.” Everyone then and now has always been amazed at anyone who remains an active citizen for more than five score. But we should appreciate — especially in this anniversary year — that our founders would have been even more amazed that their republic has now endured 12 score and 10 years. That is an achievement forged by many, many people since 1776. We always remember Lincoln and other great presidents. We build them monuments and name things after them. But this year, we should pause and recall their voters, too.
Phillips crossed party lines to support his country during a time of crisis in 1864. In our age of partisan polarization and sporadic political violence, patriotic voters must try to emulate “Deacon John.” Even if they don’t feel the need to switch parties, they should insist on identifying and supporting leaders who appreciate the unifying examples of Washington and Lincoln. John Phillips was probably the only American who had the opportunity to vote for both men. But all of us can emulate his inspiring sense of civic pride in the turbulent years ahead.
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