Born July 29, 1820
New Lisbon, Ohio
Died June 17, 1871
Lebanon, Ohio

Ohio congressman and candidate for governor

Leader of the antiwar "Copperhead" Democrats

"Must I shoot a simpleminded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator [Vallandigham] who induces him to desert?" Abraham Lincoln

Clement Vallandigham. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

As a leader of the antiwar Democrats known as "Copperheads," Clement L. Vallandigham emerged as a bitter critic of President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; see entry) and his administration during the Civil War. Vallandigham's opposition to Lincoln was based on his belief in the principle of states' rights and his certainty that the Union could never be restored through war. In 1863, however, his criticisms of the war effort became so strong that he was exiled (forced to leave) from the North.

A Veteran of Ohio Politics

Clement Laird Vallandigham...