During the 1864 presidential election, many prominent Republicans doubted that Abraham Lincoln could win re-election. Even Lincoln himself heavily doubted the potential outcome. Salmon P. Chase was the only major candidate to challenge Lincoln in the party-primary but only on the belief that the President could not win the general election. Lincoln later won the election in a landslide with 212 electoral votes to 21. Despite the challenge, Lincoln nominated Chase for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for which he served for over eight years.