At the conclusion of the first joint debate at Ottawa, August 21, 1858 between Lincoln and Douglas, the Tribune, which was a pro Lincoln paper, reported:
At the conclusion of the debate, when Mr. Lincoln walked down from the platform, he was seized by the multitude and borne off on their shoulders, in the center of a crowd of five thousand shouting Republicans, with a band of music in front. The Chicago delegation scattered for the cars, and so ended the great debate.
The Times, which was a pro Douglas paper, reported the opposite:
When Douglas had concluded the shouts were tremendous; his excoriation of Lincoln was so severe, that the republicans hung their heads in shame. The democrats, however, were loud in their vociferation.