George Mclellan Accomplishments

George B. McClellan was born in Philadelphia on December 3, 1826. When he was 15, his father helped him get accepted to the United States Military Academy younger than the normal age of 16. He was an energetic and ambitious young cadet at West Point. He graduated second in his class of 59. He would have been first if it were not for his poor drawing skills. Once he graduated, he was a brevet Second Lieutenant of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He then sailed to the mouth of the Rio Grande for the Mexican-American War. He wielded a double-barreled shotgun, two pistols, a saber, a dress sword, and a Bowie knife. He did not get there in time to help win the battle at Monterrey though. During an armistice, he got dysentery and malaria.

He was replaced by major General Ambrose Burnside. McClellan ran for president in the 1864 presidential election. McClellan wrote a report of his two most successful campaigns and his successes in organizing the Army. The War Department was hesitant to publish his report however, because he was a political threat. McClellan announced his entrance to politics as a democrat. The democrats nominated him to run against Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. He ran as a U.S. Army General until resigning on election day. His vice-president was George H. Pendleton, who opposed McClellan. Lincoln easily beat McClellan in the election with 212 electoral college votes to McClellan’s 21 electoral college votes. Lincoln also won the popular vote fifty-five percent to McClellan’s forty-five percent. Lincoln won the military vote as well with a 3-1 victory. The Union military successes in the fall of 1864 assured that Lincoln would win the presidency. After the war, McClellan, his wife and their son went to Europe for around three years. McClellan had his second child while he was in Europe. Once McClellan returned, there was talk of him running for president until Ulysses S. Grant announced he was running for president and the democrats were sure he would beat McClellan. He was offered president of the newly formed University of California. Instead, he worked as chief engineer of the New York City Department of Docks. He then also was president of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. He was surprised when the democrats nominated him for Governor of New Jersey. He won the election and served a single term from 1878 to 1881. When Grover Cleveland was elected president, McClellan sought the position of Secretary of War in his cabinet. Political rivals from New Jersey blocked his nomination for Secretary of War. He then retired from politics and began