Lincoln could be arbitrary when occasion required. This is the letter he
wrote to one of the Department heads:
“You must make a job of it, and provide a place for the bearer of this,
Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with the collector and have it done. You
can do it for me, and you must.”
There was no delay in taking action in this matter. Mr. Wampole, or
“Eli,” as he was thereafter known, “got there.”