It was inevitable that before the end of his career Barnum should go into politics. He had always been a pseudo-public character, whose immense notoriety was a political asset, and several times he had been asked to run for office. In the early days of his youthful editorial career, when he was the _Herald of Freedom_, Barnum was a strict Jacksonian Democrat. In 1852, after Jenny Lind’s tour had raised his esteem and increased his fortune, Connecticut Democrats offered him the nomination as governor of that state, but, though the party was in power, and election would not therefore have been difficult, he declined the honor. In spite of his decision, several votes were cast for him in the state convention. Barnum continued to be a loyal Democrat for many years, declaring upon one occasion that if he thought there was a drop of blood in his veins that was not democratic he would let it out if he had to cut the jugular vein, for he seemed to be under the impression that democratic and Democratic meant the same things. When the Democratic Party advocated secession, Barnum disagreed with his party and became a Republican and a strong supporter of President Lincoln. During the close and exciting presidential campaign of Lincoln just before the Civil War, he aided the “Wide-Awake” clubs in Bridgeport, and when the war broke out in 1861, Barnum, who was in his fifty-first year, sent four substitutes to the front and contributed money to the Union cause. He also aided in disturbing a Bridgeport pacifist meeting, where he was hoisted on the shoulders of some soldiers, and from that vantage point he made a speech which was said to be “full of patriotism” and “spiced with humor.” He was so active as a member of the Bridgeport Prudential Committee during the draft riots that he was threatened with violence to himself and the destruction of his home by fire. Sky rockets were always kept in the cellar at “Lindencroft,” in case Barnum should need aid from the arsenal or friends in other parts of the city. In 1865 Barnum accepted the nomination of the Republican Party for a seat in the Connecticut legislature. He did this, he tells us, so that he might enjoy the privilege of voting for the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, by which slavery was to be abolished forever. It is difficult to understand Barnum’s reluctance to enter politics: he loved to make speeches, he was a “good mixer,” and he had a profound interest in improving his fellow citizens by forcing his own standards upon them. It may be that he felt that he could use his time to better financial advantage as a private citizen, and it may be that he shrank from the necessity for answering criticism of his character, which would have caused him embarrassment had he accepted the nomination for governor.