Upon the death of Chief Justice Taney the general public favored the
appointment of Mr. Chase as his successor. In that view I concurred,
but I had heard Mr. Chase make so many unjust criticisms upon Mr.
Lincoln that I resolved to say nothing. I was willing to have Mr.
Chase appointed, but I was not willing to ask the President to confer
so great a place upon a man who had been so unjust to him. When the
nomination had been made, I said to Mr. Lincoln that I was very glad
that he had decided to appoint Mr. Chase. He then said: "There are
three reasons in favor of his appointment, and one very strong reason
against it. First, he occupies the largest place in the public mind
in connection with the office, then we wish for a Chief Justice who
will sustain what has been done in regard to emancipation and the legal
tenders. We cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should and he
should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take
a man whose opinions are known. But there is one very strong reason
against his appointment. He is a candidate for the Presidency, and if
he does not give up that idea it will be very bad for him and very bad
for me." At that time Mr. Lincoln had been re-elected to the
Presidency.
Mr. Chase continued to be a candidate for the Presidency. He abandoned
the Republican Party in 1868 and as Chief Justice he abandoned his own
policy or the policy that he had adopted in regard to the legal tender
currency.
It was said that Mr. Sumner, who was very earnest for Chase's
appointment, gave strong pledges to Mr. Lincoln that Mr. Chase would
abandon his ambition for the Presidency.