Andrew johnson was selected as president lincoln's running mate in the 1864 presidential election in order to appeal to

Lincoln was trying to appeal to Southern voters by picking Andrew Johnson as his running mate. These two men were actually very different politically speaking. Lincoln was a Republican, Andrew Johnson was a Democrat. Lincoln was from the Midwest US, Andrew Johnson was from Tennessee.

Lincoln knew that having a Democratic Vice President who once represented a Confederate state (Tennessee) would allow his presidency to appeal to a wider range of voters.