as lincoln became more popular in the newly-formed republican party he was invited to give speeches in a number of states. in october of 1859, he was invited to speak at henry ward beecher's church in brooklyn, new york. lincoln spent months preparing for this speech; more time than he had spent on any speech he had given during the senatorial debates. at the last minute, the site for his speech was moved to the cooper union in manhattan. lincoln knew why he had been asked to give the address. he was being promoted as an alternative to seward and other possible republican candidates. the cooper union address got lincoln the attention he needed to become the republican candidate for president in 1860.