happiness of every one made it difficult for him to say "No;" but this,
his greatest weakness, was never shown in the direction of the military
or political policy of the government. On the contrary, the man who
would violate the laws of war and imperil the discipline of an army by
pardoning a deserter or commuting the sentence of some poor wretch who
was sentenced to be shot would not permit delegations of United States
Senators to move him one atom from what he deemed best to be done. He
carried this principle into his appointments to office also. During
the Presidential canvass of 1864, when a quarrel between the Weed and
Fenton factions of the Republican party endangered the ticket in New
York, Lincoln sent for the Senator. What occurred we do not know; but
Mr. Fenton started immediately for New York with Mr. Nicolay, and the
latter returned to Washington with the resignation of Rufus F. Andrews,
a friend of Mr. Fenton, who had been surveyor of the port, and Abram
Wakeman, Mr. Weed's choice for the office, was appointed at once. From
that time forward Mr. Weed was earnest in his support of the Republican
ticket. Senator Fenton, in his reminiscences, says, "The small majority
in New York in November, less than 7000 for the Republican ticket,
served to illustrate Mr. Lincoln's political sagacity and tact. He was
always a politician as well as a statesman, and but for his intervention
at that time the electoral vote of New York might have been cast for
the Democratic candidate, and no one dare measure the effect of such an
event upon the war."
President Lincoln never hesitated to use the patronage of the government
for political purposes. He held that the government of the United States
is a political organization, and that the political opinions of those
intrusted with its administration in those critical days were of as much
consequence as their integrity or intelligence. As a consequence, he
made his appointments first from among those whom he believed would give
him the most efficient support in his efforts to save the Union, and
second to those who believed in the principles and the measures of the
party with which he was identified. He would have rejected with scorn
the demands of the civil service reformers of the present day. Public
opinion was not then educated up to the existing standard of political
morality. At the same time, his keen sense of justice required him to
recognize and reward merit and efficiency even among his political
opponents.
He had a sly way of stating his intentions, and he often expressed
great truths in an odd way. Soon after his arrival in Washington the
Massachusetts delegation in the Peace Congress called upon him to
recommend Salmon P. Chase for Secretary of the Treasury. Lincoln heard
them respectfully, and then, with a twinkle in his eye, remarked,--
"Gentlemen, of course, you would not expect me to tell you who is going
to be in the Cabinet; but, from what I hear, I think Mr. Chase's chances
are about one hundred and fifty for any other man's hundred for that
place."
One day, at Cabinet meeting, Mr. Chase was reproaching himself for
failing to write a letter that he had intended to send that day, when
Lincoln observed,--
"Never be sorry for what you don't write; it is the things you do write
that you are usually sorry for."
The President enforced political discipline among the subordinates of
the government. Representative George W. Julian, of Indiana, relates
this incident:
"After my nomination for re-election in the year 1864, Mr. Holloway, who
was holding the position of Commissioner of Patents, and was one of the
editors of a Republican newspaper in my district, refused to recognize
me as the party candidate, and kept the name of my defeated competitor
standing in his paper. It threatened discord and mischief, and I went to
the President with these facts, and on the strength of them asked for
Mr. Holloway's removal from office.
"'Your nomination,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'is as binding on Republicans as
mine, and you can rest assured that Mr. Holloway shall support you,
openly and unconditionally, or lose his head.'
"This was entirely satisfactory; but after waiting a week or two for
the announcement of my name, I returned to the President with the
information that Mr. Holloway was still keeping up his fight, and that
I had come to ask of him decisive measures. I saw in an instant that his
ire was roused. He rang the bell for his messenger, and said to him in a
very excited and emphatic way,--
"'Tell Mr. Holloway to come to me!'
"The messenger hesitated, looking somewhat surprised and bewildered,
when Mr. Lincoln said in a tone still more emphatic,--
"'_Tell Mr. Holloway to come to me!_'
"It was perfectly evident that the business would now be attended to,
and in a few days my name was duly announced and the work of party
insubordination ceased."
The late Chief-Justice Cartter, of the District of Columbia, once called
upon Lincoln with a party of politicians to secure the appointment of
a gentleman who was opposed by the Senators from his State. Lincoln
suggested that they ought to get the Senators on their side. They
replied that, owing to local complications, such a thing was impossible.
Lincoln retorted that nothing was impossible in politics; that the
peculiarities of the Senator referred to were well known, and that by
the use of a little tact and diplomacy he might be brought around, in
which case there would be no doubt about the appointment. To clinch his
argument Lincoln told a story of James Quarles, a distinguished lawyer
of Tennessee. Quarles, he said, was trying a case, and after producing
his evidence rested; whereupon the defence produced a witness who swore
Quarles completely out of court, and a verdict was rendered accordingly.
After the trial one of his friends came to him and said,--
"Why didn't you get that feller to swar on your side?"
"I didn't know anything about him," replied Quarles. "I might have told
you about him," said the friend, "for he would swar for you jest as
hard as he'd swar for the other side. That's his business. Judge, that
feller takes in swarrin' for a living."
Representative John B. Alley, of Massachusetts, who was himself famous
as a politician, said, "Mr. Lincoln was a thorough and most adroit
politician as well as statesman, and in politics always adopted the
means to the end, fully believing that in vital issues 'success was
a duty.' In illustration of this feeling and sentiment, I need only
refer to his action and conduct in procuring the passage of the
constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. It required a two-thirds
vote of Congress to enable the amendments to the Constitution to be sent
to the Legislatures for ratification, and there were two votes lacking
to make two-thirds, which Lincoln said 'must be procured.' Two members
of the House were sent for and Lincoln said that those two votes must be
procured. When asked 'How?' he remarked,--
"'I am President of the United States, clothed with great power. The
abolition of slavery by constitutional provision settles the fate, for
all coming time, not only of the millions now in bondage, but of unborn
millions to come--a measure of such importance that _those two votes
must be procured_. I leave it to you to determine how it shall be done;
but remember that I am President of the United States, clothed with
immense power, and I expect you to procure those votes.'"
These gentlemen understood the significance of the remark. The votes
were procured, the constitutional amendment was passed, and slavery was
abolished forever.
"Senator Sumner and myself," continued Mr. Alley, "called upon him one
morning to urge the appointment of a Massachusetts man to be a secretary
of legation, chiefly upon the ground of his superior qualifications.
But Mr. Lincoln said, emphatically, 'No;' that he should give the place
to an applicant from another State who was backed by strong influence,
although he acknowledged that he did not think him fit for the position.
"We were naturally indignant, and wished to know if one of acknowledged
fitness was to be rejected because he was a Massachusetts man, and one
whom he was willing to say was not fit was to be appointed. 'Yes,'
said the President, 'that is just the reason,' and facetiously added,
'I suppose you two Massachusetts gentlemen think that your State
could furnish suitable men for every diplomatic and consulate station
the government has to fill.' We replied that we thought it could. He
appeased our displeasure by saying he thought so too, and that he
considered Massachusetts the banner State of the Union, and admired its
institutions and people so much that he sent his 'Bob,' meaning his son
Robert, to Harvard for an education."
The Presidential campaign of 1864 was fought on one issue only, and that
was the success of the war, although Lincoln, in his annual message
to Congress in the December following, declared that "No candidate
for any office whatever, high or low, has ventured to seek votes on
the avowal that he was for giving up the Union." Nevertheless, the
Democrats nominated McClellan and attempted to discredit the patriotism
and the ability of Lincoln. Similar attempts were made in his own party
by the radical antislavery element and the friends of Secretary Chase
and numerous disappointed contractors and politicians, but they made
hardly a ripple upon the great current of public opinion which swept
on irresistible to the Convention. Lincoln did nothing to promote his
candidacy, but made no secret of his desire for a re-election, and
himself suggested the most effective argument in his own support when
he recalled the homely proverb of his youth that "It is bad policy to
swap horses while crossing a stream." He placed no obstacles in the
way of Mr. Chase, and when warned that General Grant might aspire to
the Presidency, replied, "If he takes Richmond, let him have it."
He admonished the officials of the administration against too much
activity and rebuked them for opposing his enemies. He made no speeches
of importance during the campaign, but on several occasions addressed
delegations which visited Washington, appeared at sanitary fairs for the
benefit of sick soldiers, responded to serenades, and whenever custom or
courtesy required him to appear in public he did so without reference to
political results.
In August, 1864, the political horizon was very dark, and the President
himself, who was always the most hopeful and confident of men, almost
entirely lost heart. Having convinced himself that the campaign was
going against him, he deliberately laid down a line of duty for
himself, and at the Cabinet meeting on August 23 he requested each one
of his ministers to write their names upon a folded sheet of paper
in such a way that the seal could not be broken without mutilating
their autographs. He made no explanation of its contents or of his
reason for desiring them to attest it, but after the election it was
disclosed that the mysterious paper contained a pledge from himself and
his administration loyally to accept any verdict which the people of
the country might pronounce upon their efforts to save the Union, and
to continue their labors with zealous loyalty until relieved by their
successors. The pledge closed as follows:
"This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that
this administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to
so co-operate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the
election and the inauguration, as he will have secured the election on
such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards."
V
A PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET
Lincoln tells us that before he left the telegraph office at Springfield
on the night of the election in November, 1860, he had practically
selected his Cabinet. The superintendent of the telegraph company gave
him a room from which all other visitors were excluded, and, with
no company but two operators, he read the reports as they came in.
Between times he had plenty of opportunity for meditation, and, always
confident, the returns soon convinced him of his election and his mind
naturally turned upon the next important act for him to perform. "When
I finally left that room," he said afterwards, "I had substantially
completed the framework of my Cabinet as it now exists."
To begin with, he decided to offer posts of honor to those who had been
his rivals for the Presidential nomination,--Seward, Chase, Cameron,
and Bates,--and to fill the remaining places with representatives of
the various elements that had combined to form the Republican party. It
was to be a composite Cabinet, purely political, including no intimate
friends, no personal adherents, and in the entire list there was not
one with whom he ever had confidential relations. His plan seems to
have been to combine, as one of his secretaries said, the experience
of Seward, the integrity of Chase, the popularity of Cameron, and to
hold the West with Bates, attract New England with Welles, please the
Whigs through Smith, and convince the Democrats through Blair. Lincoln
always had a great respect for names. No one had studied more closely
the careers of American politicians, although his personal acquaintances
outside of his own State were limited, and he was more familiar with
the personal qualifications and political records of the gentlemen he
had chosen than were they with his. Perhaps he overestimated their
ability and the value of their advice, as he was likely to do because
of his own modesty and inexperience. He saw distinctly the impending
crisis, and felt the need of support from leaders of experience,
ability, and influence, as well as popular sympathy. But at the same
time the combination he selected had in it all the seeds of disaster
because of personal jealousy, previous political rivalry, and the
intrigues of their henchmen. Yet by his great tact, patience, and
strength of purpose he made them instruments of his will. As finally
chosen, his Cabinet represented every faction of the new Republican
party and the ablest representative of each division as evenly as an odd
number could. When reminded that he had selected four Democrats and only
three Whigs, he promptly replied that he was himself a Whig, and hoped
that he should often be at Cabinet meetings to make the parties even.
This was a famous jest during the early part of the administration.
Although he had decided in his own mind upon five of seven of his future
advisers before the votes that elected him were counted, he treated with
patience and courtesy the crowds of politicians that came from different
parts of the country to advise and persuade him in the interest of their
friends. He listened attentively to all that his visitors had to say and
gave their suggestions careful reflection. He said to Thurlow Weed that
he supposed the latter had some experience in cabinet-making, and, as he
had never learned that trade himself, he was disposed to avail himself
of the suggestions of friends. The making of a Cabinet, he added, was by
no means as easy as he had supposed, partly, he believed, because, while
the population had increased, great men were scarcer than they used to
be.
He was extremely anxious to get two Southerners for the Cabinet, as he
believed that such an act might go far to reconcile the loyal people
of that section to his election and establish him in their confidence,
but from the beginning he saw that his hopes were not to be realized.
In order to draw out public sentiment, he wrote a brief anonymous
editorial for the _Illinois State Journal_ on the subject, in which he
asked whether it was known that any Southern gentlemen of character
would accept such an appointment, and, if so, on what terms would they
surrender their political differences to Mr. Lincoln or Mr. Lincoln to
them.
"There are men in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee,"
said Thurlow Weed, "for whose loyalty under any circumstances and in any
event I would vouch."
"Let's have the names of your white blackbirds," replied Lincoln, and
Weed gave him four, Mr. Seward suggested several, and Mr. Greeley
suggested five. Of all the gentlemen named, Lincoln preferred John A.
Gilmer, of North Carolina, with whom he had served in Congress, and
who had been a prominent leader of the Whig party in that State. He
invited Gilmer to Springfield, but the latter would not come, and after
canvassing the various suggestions which were made him, he found that he
must limit his choice to the border States, and selected Edward Bates,
of Missouri, and Montgomery Blair, of Maryland.
Mr. Bates was an able lawyer and a highly respected and popular
antislavery Whig from a slave State. He had been a candidate for the
Presidential nomination at Chicago, and had received 48 votes out of
465 cast by delegates from Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Oregon,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Early in December he sent word to Mr.
Bates that he would be in St. Louis the next day to consult him about
matters of importance; but Mr. Bates would not permit him to make the
journey, and started at once for Springfield. They had been acquainted
for several years and were very good friends, and after cordial
greetings, Lincoln explained that he would like to have Mr. Bates accept
the post of Attorney-General in his Cabinet, for which the latter was
in every way qualified, and which he would find congenial. Mr. Bates
accepted, and the next day the announcement was given to the newspapers
for the purpose of quieting the demands of the conservative Republicans
and antislavery Whigs in the border States for recognition.
A few days later he offered a Cabinet position to Caleb B. Smith,
of Indiana, without assigning him to any particular portfolio. This
was done to relieve him from the pressure that was being brought by
Schuyler Colfax, whose friends were exceedingly persistent. Mr. Colfax
was very much disappointed, and attributed his failure to obtain the
appointment to Lincoln's resentment towards him because he had favored
the re-election of Douglas to the United States Senate in 1858. Lincoln
was not aware of this supposition until after he had entered upon his
duties as President, when he showed his candor and good-nature by
writing a friendly letter to Mr. Colfax explaining that "a tender of
the appointment was not withheld in any part because of anything that
happened in 1858. Indeed, I should have decided as I did, easier than
I did, had that matter never existed. I had partly made up my mind in
favor of Mr. Smith--not conclusively, of course--before your name was
mentioned in that connection. When you were brought forward I said,
'Colfax is a young man already in a position, is running a brilliant
career, and is sure of a bright future in any event. With Smith it is
now or never.' I now have to beg that you will not do me the injustice
to suppose for a moment that I remember anything against you in malice."
Mr. Smith did not remain in the Cabinet a great while, however. The
duties of Secretary of the Interior were arduous and uncongenial,
and he retired in December, 1862, at his own request, to accept an
appointment to the United States District bench. He was succeeded by
John P. Usher, also of Indiana, who continued in office until after the
inauguration of Johnson, although he tendered his resignation early
in 1865 to relieve President Lincoln from the criticism of having
two members of his Cabinet from Indiana, Hugh McCulloch having been
appointed Secretary of the Treasury. The President was reluctant to let
Mr. Usher go, but accepted his resignation, and, for some reason never
explained, fixed May 15, 1865, as the day when it should take effect.
When that day arrived Lincoln had no further need of his services.
Mr. Bates proved a strong supporter of the war. He was a man of
determination and belligerent disposition, notwithstanding his
conservative education; and although he came from a slave State, he was
one of the most radical of the President's advisers whenever the slavery
question came up. When the Emancipation Proclamation was first proposed,
Mr. Bates and Mr. Stanton were the only members of the Cabinet who gave
it their unreserved approval, while Mr. Chase, who came nearer to being
the representative of the abolition faction than any other member, and
Mr. Seward, who was supposed to be the most radical of Republicans, were
opposed to it.
Among Mr. Stanton's papers is a curious memorandum which throws a
search-light upon his position and that of some of his colleagues.
"Tuesday, July 22.
"The President proposes to issue an order declaring free all
slaves in States in rebellion on the ---- day of ----.
"The Attorney-General and Stanton are for its immediate
promulgation.
"Seward against it; argues strongly in favor of cotton and
foreign governments.
"Chase silent.
"Welles--
"Seward argues--That foreign nations will intervene to
prevent the abolition of slavery for sake of cotton. Argues in
a long speech against its immediate promulgation. Wants to wait
for troops. Wants Halleck here. Wants drum and fife and public
spirit. We break up our relations with foreign nations and the
production of cotton for sixty years.
"Chase thinks it a measure of great danger, and would lead
to universal emancipation.--The measure goes beyond anything I
have recommended."
However, before 1864 Mr. Bates grew weary of his official labors and
expressed to the President his desire to retire. He was offered a vacant
judgeship in Missouri, but declined it on the ground that he could not
work in harmony with the radicals who were in control of politics there.
When he retired the Cabinet was left without a Southern member.
A few days before the meeting of the Supreme Court, in December, 1864,
Lincoln sent for Titian J. Coffey, the Assistant Attorney-General, and
said,--
"My Cabinet has shrunk up North, and I must find a Southern man. I
suppose if the twelve apostles were to be chosen nowadays the shrieks of
locality would have to be heeded. I have invited Judge Holt to become
Attorney-General, but he seems unwilling to undertake the Supreme Court
work. I want you to see him, remove his objection if you can, and bring
me his answer."
"I then had charge of the government cases in the Supreme Court, and
they were all ready for argument," said Mr. Coffey. "I saw Judge Holt,
explained the situation, and assured him that he need not appear in
court unless he chose to do so. He had, however, decided to decline the
invitation, and I returned to the President and so informed him.
"'Then,' said the President, 'I will offer it to James Speed, of
Louisville, a man I know well, though not so well as I know his brother
Joshua. I slept with Joshua for four years, and I suppose I ought to
know him well. But James is an honest man and a gentleman, and if he
comes here you will find he is one of those well-poised men, not too
common here, who are not spoiled by a big office.'"
Mr. Speed accepted the appointment and served until after the
assassination.
The relations between several of the members of Lincoln's Cabinet were
from the beginning to the end unfriendly, and no President without the
tact, patience, and forbearance of Lincoln could have controlled them.
He treated them all with unvarying kindness, and although he never
disclosed any desire or intention to dominate, and, in fact, invariably
yielded on matters of little importance, he was always their master,
and on matters of great importance they were compelled to submit to his
will. It is the highest testimony to their confidence in him that even
those who had retired at his wish never afterwards failed to show him
respect and even affection, and none of them ever retired from his post
from feelings of dissatisfaction with the orders or the treatment he
received from him.
During the early days of his administration he had a higher opinion
of his advisers than they had of him, which was because they did not
yet know one another. He recognized them as men who had made honorable
records in the United States Senate and in other eminent positions,
while they regarded him as an ordinary frontier lawyer, without
experience, and the struggle for ascendancy and control puzzled a good
many people from time to time. Mr. Seward was looked upon as the chief
pillar of the temple for many months, Mr. Stanton's iron will was
constantly felt by the public, Mr. Chase was regarded as an eminent
statesman; but in all the critical issues of the war the uncouth Western
lawyer, without experience in statecraft or executive administration,
unused to power, asserted and maintained his official supremacy, and
every member of his Cabinet yielded implicit obedience. They recognized
his unselfish purpose, his purity of character, his keen perception, his
foresight, and his common sense, and were usually willing to accept his
judgment. While others fretted and became confused in the emergencies
that overwhelmed them, Lincoln was never liable to excitement or
impulsive action.
[Illustration: MONTGOMERY BLAIR, POSTMASTER-GENERAL
From a photograph by Brady]