AUGUSTA -- Abraham Lincoln didn't meet his running mate -- Hannibal Hamlin of Maine -- until after the 1860 Republican convention.

Back then, the nominee didn't choose the second in command. Convention-goers did.

Why Hamlin?

Because Lincoln's home state of Illinois was considered the West, and the party wanted an eastern Republican for geographic balance, said H. Draper Hunt, a former University of Southern Maine professor who wrote a biography of Hamlin.

"Hamlin did not want the job," Hunt said. "Hamlin was horrified. The vice president of that day was a totally powerless job."

Hamlin, a U.S. senator and former governor, was born in Paris Hill, near South Paris in Oxford County.

Hunt described him as a "gregarious" man who smoked big black cigars and did not drink alcohol. He never wore an overcoat, even in the cold Maine winters.

Today, as presidential hopefuls U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., consider their vice-presidential choices, they too will consider issues of geography, ideology and influence.

Perhaps most important, then and now, is the ability of the vice president to take over if needed.

And here is where Hamlin's story provides a lesson to today's politicians.

Hamlin served four years as Lincoln's vice president, but was dropped from the ticket in 1864 in favor of Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee senator who would deliver much-needed Southern votes in a time of Civil War.

But when Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, it left in charge a politician unprepared for the top slot, Maine professors say.

"Andrew Johnson is a good example of how we used to pick candidates," said James Melcher, political science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington. "When Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson wasn't ready for the give-and-take of the job. They weren't thinking as carefully as they should have. It's very typical of the politics of the time."

Hunt described Johnson -- who was impeached -- as "stubborn" and "pig headed."

"Hamlin's tenure as president would have been much more successful than Andrew Johnson," Hunt said.

Historians disagree about whether Lincoln actively worked behind the scenes to remove Hamlin from the ticket in 1864.

Hunt believes he did.

"Lincoln was worried about his own chances of nomination," Hunt said.

Yet, there's room to disagree.

"Honest Abe did not leave anything in writing to that effect," he said.

Hunt and other political scientists say the rules have changed since the days of Lincoln. Television and the Internet mean geographic balance is much less important these days. And vice-presidents play a much more active role in the government.

The bottom line?

Running mates probably won't sway voters heading into the November election, said Marvin Druker, a professor at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn campus. But once in office, he or she must be prepared to take over if necessary.

When it comes to strategy, vice-presidential choices don't help candidates win races. But they can help them lose.

"Usually it can hurt a candidate more than it can help them," he said.

Susan M. Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com