Which presidential candidate in 1860 wanted to avoid all controversy over slavery

The presidential candidate in 1860 that wanted to avoid all controversy over slavery was John C. Bell.

Explanation:

John Bell, born February 15, 1797 near Nashville, Tennessee, died September 10, 1869 near Dover, Tennessee, was an American politician. He was the 16th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1834 to 1835. In the presidential election of 1860, he won the electoral votes of three states (Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia).

In 1860, the electoral votes were divided between four presidential candidates, who were Republican Abraham Lincoln, two Democrats: Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas and Southern Democrat John Cabell Breckinridge, and John Bell, who ran for the new Constitutional Union Party. The split of the Democrats made it possible for Lincoln's victory as well as for Bell as a minor party candidate to win three states' electoral votes. Bell's followers were some old knownothings and whigs. What was left of the Whig Party also nominated Bell as the party's official candidate.