The party was formed to contest the 1864 presidential election and it was made up largely of disaffected Radical Republicans who felt that President Abraham Lincoln was too moderate on the issues of slavery and racial equality.

[8] The platform adopted at Cleveland called for the continuation of the war without compromise, a Constitutional amendment banning slavery and authorizing equal rights, confiscation of rebel property, control of post-war reconstruction by Congress and enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine.

[9] Historian James M. McPherson has argued that because of the party wishing to appeal to Democrats, it refused to take on specific calls for black suffrage and land grants for freed slaves that it might otherwise have explicitly endorsed.

[11] Although this did not occur, Frémont maintained over the course of his campaign that he would drop out if Lincoln did likewise, in favor of a candidate whose platform more closely matched the ideals of the Radical Republicans.

[19] At the same time, Frémont remained critical of Lincoln, writing that "his Administration has been politically, militarily and financially, a failure, and that its necessary continuance is a cause of regret for the country".

[20] In another letter to the same paper written one week previously, but published in the same edition, he wrote that the ideas of the Radical Democracy Party would nevertheless be pursued.

[21] It has been speculated that Frémont's withdrawal may have been part of a deal with Lincoln whereby the more conservative Postmaster General Montgomery Blair was removed from his post.