Lincoln was in the Republican Party of the time, though it was newly formed, it wouldn’t really fit the criteria of “independent” since the whole two party system wasn’t very cemented by then.
@Patriot-#1776Constitution4mos4MO
It had been for decades – Democrats and Whigs, before that, Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans. He was not expected to win.
@9CJ6CB64mos4MO
We also just had a large amount of parties at the time that remained relevant. The chances of splitting the vote were sorta much higher, so I’d say that him winning wasn’t as much of an independent run as it was a minority party win. Though, it remained impressive all the same.
