Abraham Lincoln could win the presidency in 1860 with only 40 percent of the nation's popular vote because he won a majority of the Electoral College votes with 180.
Despite the minimal support in the south, Lincoln won a plurality of popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote. The divisions between the opponents of the Republicans were not in themselves decisive to ensure the Republican capture of the White House, since Lincoln received absolute majorities in the states that were combined for the majority of the electoral votes. Lincoln's main opponent in the North was Douglas, who finished second in several states and in the popular vote, but only won the slave state of Missouri and three electors of the New Jersey Free State. Bell won three states in the High South: Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, while Breckinridge swept the rest of the south. The election of Lincoln led to the secession of several southern states, and the Civil War would begin with the Battle of Fort Sumter.
