When complaints were made to President Lincoln by victims of
Secretary of War Stanton’s harshness, rudeness, and refusal to be
obliging--particularly in cases where Secretary Stanton had refused
to honor Lincoln’s passes through the lines--the President would often
remark to this effect “I cannot always be sure that permits given by
me ought to be granted. There is an understanding between myself and
Stanton that when I send a request to him which cannot consistently be
granted, he is to refuse to honor it. This he sometimes does.”