Team of Rivals

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

  members of the Peace Convention: Entry for February 23, 1861, Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 21.

  “to scoff…facility of expression”: Lucius E. Chittenden, Recollections of Lincoln and His Administration (New York: Harper & Bros., 1891), pp. 71, 72.

  Chase stiffly assumed: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 236.

  “had some apt…his name”: Chittenden, Recollections of Lincoln, p. 72.

  “He has been both…misfortune”: William Rives and Thomas Ruffin, both quoted in ibid., p. 77.

  “clear and blustering…with mighty power”: Entry for February 24, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.

  “Governor Seward…you are familiar”: Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, p. 147.

  Seward and Lincoln made an informal visit: Entry for February 25, 1861, Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 22.

  “affected nonchalance…plain English”: NYT, February 27, 1861.

  “face has not yet…of the multitude”: Star, February 26, 1861.

  “without a precedent…proprieties of his position”: NYT, February 27, 1861.

  “I had partly…against you in malice”: AL to Schuyler Colfax, March 8, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 278.

  opposition to Norman Judd; offered ministry post in Berlin: See King, Lincoln’s Manager, pp. 170–72.

  “Judd…borne inspection”: MTL to David Davis, January 17, 1861, in Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 71.

  “in an agony…in February”: Niven, Gideon Welles, p. 321.

  “It is by no means…not go at all”: GW to Edgar T. Welles, February 27, 1861, reel 18, Welles Papers.

  “I desire to see you here forthwith”: Hannibal Hamlin to GW, February 28, 1861, quoted in Niven, Gideon Welles, p. 321.

  In his hurry to catch the train…the navy portfolio: Niven, Gideon Welles, pp. 321–22.

  “The struggle for Cabinet…hourly”: Star, March 1, 1861.

  conflict over Chase and Seward: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 237.

  Seward sent a note to Lincoln: Entry for March 2, 1861, Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, p. 23.

  “I can’t afford…the first trick”: John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History, Vol. III (New York: Century Co., 1917), p. 371.

  “It is the subject…the same direction”: AL to WHS, March 4, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 273.

  “The President…the country to chance”: WHS to FAS, March 8, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 518.

  Lincoln sent Chase’s nomination…to the Senate: Entries for March 3, 5, and 6, 1861, Lincoln Day by Day, Vol. III, pp. 24, 26; Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 234.

  “Ever conscious…of protocol”: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 238.

  “referred to the…finally yielded”: SPC to Trowbridge, quoted in Schuckers, The Life and Public Services of Salmon Portland Chase, p. 207.

  “The construction of…only by experience”: The States and Union, Washington, D.C., February 26, 1861.

  Lincoln’s “first decision…been nominated”: “Campaign of 1860 & Journey to Washington,” container 9, Nicolay Papers.

  James Buchanan…“deepened party divisions”: Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union. Vol. II: The Emergence of Lincoln, part I: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857–1859, new introduction by James M. McPherson (New York: 1978; New York: Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992), p. 67.

  “he must risk…dangers of rebellion”: “Campaign of 1860 & Journey to Washington,” container 9, Nicolay Papers.

  asked Lincoln why…“of their services”: Joseph Medill, quoted in H. I. Cleveland, “Booming the First American President: A Talk with Abraham Lincoln’s Friend, the Late Joseph Medill,” Saturday Evening Post 172, August 5, 1899, p. 85.

  For further analysis of the making of the cabinet, see Phillip Shaw Paludan, The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (n.p.: University Press of Kansas, 1994), pp. 21–45.

  CHAPTER 12: “MYSTIC CHORDS OF MEMORY”

  Mary the night before the inaugural: Helm, The True Story of Mary, p. 168.

  strangers swarming…streets below: Star, March 4, 1861.

  “Lincoln often resorted…or argument”: JGN, “Some Incidents in Lincoln’s Journey from Springfield to Washington,” in Nicolay, An Oral History of Abraham Lincoln, p. 107.

  out of four documents: Herndon and Weik, Herndon’s Life of Lincoln, p. 386.

  “such a crowd…about him”: Orville H. Browning, quoted in Nicolay, An Oral History of Abraham Lincoln, p. 6.

  Browning focused on one imprudent passage: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, p. 322.

  “threat, or menace…palpably in the wrong”: Orville H. Browning to AL, February 17, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “strong and conclusive”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, p. 321.

  “bound by duty…shift his position”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in CW, IV, p. 250.

  “exclusive and defiant…negro equality”: Entry for May 19, 1860, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 129.

  “give such advantages…exercise of power”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, pp. 320, 321.

  “treasonable”…would only “aggravate the dispute”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 253 n32, 257 n67, 260, 260 n85.

  “to the effect…and irrevocable”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 270.

  “With you… ‘or a sword?’”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in ibid., p. 261.

  “to meet…cheerful confidence”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, p. 321.

  “I close…angel of the nation”: WHS revision, in AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 261–62 n99.

  “I am loth…angels of our nature”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 271.

  Lincoln read the speech…left alone: Randall, Mary Lincoln, p. 208.

  the morning newspapers…of his house: Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 515.

  “I have been…and the free”: L. A. Gobright, Recollection of Men and Things at Washington, During the Third of a Century (Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1869), p. 291.

  “Disappointment!…little Illinois lawyer!”: Schurz, Reminiscences, Vol. II, pp. 221–22.

  As the clock…“Hail to the Chief”: Stanley Kimmel, Mr. Lincoln’s Washington (New York: Coward-McCann, 1957), p. 23; Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, pp. 402–03.

  cheering crowds…throughout the entire route: Julia Taft Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father (Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), pp. 17–18; “The Diary of a Public Man, part III,” North American Review 129 (October 1879), p. 382.

  “A sharp, cracking…in the aggregate”: Star, March 4, 1861.

  “assume[d] an almost idyllic…large rural village”: Edna M. Colman, Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip: From Washington to Lincoln (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1926), pp. 279–81 (first and third quotes attributed by Colman to foreign observer J. G. Kohl).

  platform seating; Baker…introduced the president-elect: NYT, March 5, 1861; Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, pp. 45–46.

  Douglas reached over…his own lap: “The Diary of a Public Man, part III,” NAR (1879), p. 383; Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, p. 46.

  outdoor venues of the Western states: NYT, March 5, 1861; Leech, Reveille in Washington, p. 44.

  “no purpose…better angels of our nature”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in CW, IV, pp. 263–66, 269, 271.

  “The Mansion…dinner prepared”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS,
p. 46.

  “If you are as happy…this country”: James Buchanan, quoted in Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, Vol. I, pp. 137–38.

  hasty unpacking…dressed for the Inaugural Ball: Randall, Mary Lincoln, p. 209.

  Inaugural Ball: NYH, March 6, 1861; NYT, March 6, 1861; Colman, Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip, p. 268.

  “because of…in its decoration”: Colman, Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip, p. 268.

  Brightened by…good deal of space: NYH, March 6, 1861.

  “Dressed all in blue…and pearls”: Leech, Reveille in Washington, p. 46.

  she danced the quadrille…her exhausted husband: Star, March 5, 1861; Leech, Reveille in Washington, p. 46.

  “What an inappreciable…5th of March”: Entry for March 4, 1861, Fanny Seward diary, Seward Papers.

  “seven days and seventeen hours”: Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, Vol. I, p. 140.

  “grand…in every respect”: NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “convincing…manner”: New York Evening Post, reprinted in NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “eminently…under the Constitution”: Philadelphia Bulletin, reprinted in NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “the work…its contents”: Commercial Advertiser, N.Y., reprinted in NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “wretchedly…unstatesmanlike paper”: Hartford Times, reprinted in NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “It is he…Civil War”: Atlas and Argus, Albany, N.Y., quoted in Albany Evening Journal, March 5, 1861.

  “couched in the cool…civil war”: Richmond Enquirer, reprinted in NYTrib, March 7, 1861.

  “might as well…inevitable”: Herald, Wilmington, N.C., quoted in Star, March 7, 1861.

  “won some favorable…slave states”: Thomas, Abraham Lincoln, p. 248.

  “without getting…can stand”: WHS to FAS, March 8, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 518.

  “been fully justified…my country”: Entry for March 4, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.

  Radicals…considered an appeasing tone: T. Harry Williams, Lincoln and the Radicals (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1941), p. 22.

  Frederick Douglass…cruel slaveholders: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, introduction by Houston A. Baker, Jr. (The Anti-Slavery Office, 1845; New York: Penguin Books, 1986), chapters I–X.

  “it was unlawful…rid of thinking!”: Ibid., pp. 78 (first quote), 84 (second and third quotes).

  “no more pervasive…in America”: Blight, Frederick Douglass’ Civil War, p. 3.

  “It has taught…the Presidency”: Douglass’ Monthly (December 1860).

  “no lawful power…Pierces and Buchanans”: Douglass’ Monthly (April 1861).

  White House family quarters: William Seale, The President’s House: A History, Vol. I (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association/National Geographic Society, 1986) pp. 366, 368, 377, 379–80, illustration 41.

  “the grounds…closets”: WHS to home, March 16, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 530.

  hundreds of people…securing a job: Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, p. 147; William O. Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln’s Secretary, ed. Michael Burlingame (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), p. 5.

  “from Edward…that he was handsome”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, pp. 47, 48.

  memorizing railroad timetables…“perfect precision”: John Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,” Century 41 (November 1890), p. 35.

  Tad…“worry of the household”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, pp. 48–49.

  A speech impediment: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, p. 8; Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,” Century (1890), p. 35.

  “a very bad…discipline”: NYTrib, July 17, 1871.

  The boys harried the staff: Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Times, pp. 26–27; NYTrib, July 17, 1871; Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, pp. 102–06.

  “If there was…a good time”: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, p. 107.

  Seward had proposed: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,” JISHS, p. 49.

  “For over two hours…at the windows”: JGN to TB, March 10, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  “well dressed…social courtesy”: Entry for March 8, 1861, reel 76, Charles Francis Adams diary.

  “was voted by…ever known here”: JGN to TB, March 10, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  “This is certainly…she has been here”: MTL to Hannah Shearer, March [28, 1861], in Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 82.

  “light and capricious”…morning schedule: Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,” Century (1890), p. 34.

  white marble fireplace…a panorama: Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 416.

  description of the Cabinet Room: Seale, The President’s House, Vol. I, pp. 364, 367; Isaac Arnold, quoted in Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 416.

  “the very first…in his hands”: Entry for July 3, 1861, in Browning, The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. I, p. 476.

  “that their provisions…their relief”: Memorandum, July 3, 1861, quoted in John G. Nicolay, With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860–1865, ed. Michael Burlingame (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), p. 47.

  “I now see…surrender”: Joseph Holt and Winfield Scott to AL, March 5, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  to “reclaim…yourselves the aggressors”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in CW, IV, p. 254 (first and second quotes); AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 271 (third and fourth quotes).

  “to eat or sleep”: AL, quoted in Villard, Memoirs of Henry Villard, Vol. I, p. 156.

  “he had literally…I must see them”: Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,” Century (1890), pp. 34, 33.

  “has no conception…security now”: Entry for March 10, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.

  “owes a higher…office-hunters”: NYT, April 4, 1861.

  “The President proposes…upon him most”: WHS to home, March 16, 1861, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 530.

  “long-skirted…around his waist”: Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 418.

  his large leather Bible…“inaudible music”: Bayne, Tad Lincoln’s Father, pp. 32–33.

  Lincoln penned a note: AL to Winfield Scott, March 9, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 279.

  Scott’s reply…“20,000 volunteers”: Winfield Scott to AL, March 11, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “was disinclined…to be understood”: Welles diary, Vol. I (1960 edn.), p. 6.

  “was virtually…irresistible force”: FPB to MB, March 12, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  Fox’s ingenious plan: “Result of G.V. Fox’s Plan for Reinforcing Fort Sumpter; In His Own Writing,” in Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, pp. 38–39; West, Gideon Welles, p. 98.

  pacing up and down as he spoke: Helen Nicolay, “Lincoln’s Cabinet,” Abraham Lincoln Quarterly 5 (March 1949), p. 274.

  “Assuming it to be…to attempt it?”: AL to WHS, March 15, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 284.

  description of the State Department: Charles Lanman, Bohn’s Hand-Book of Washington (Washington, D.C.: Casimir Bohn, 1856), p. 35; Robert Mills, Guide to the National Executive Offices and the Capitol of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Peter Force Printer, 1841), published work 5007, reel 14, The Papers of Robert Mills, 1781–1855, ed. Pamela Scott, Scholarly Resources, microfilm edn.

  Frederick…assistant secretary of state: WHS to FAS, March 8, 1861, in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 518.

  Seward reiterated…emph
atic negative reply: WHS to AL, March 15, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “If the attempt…cannot advise it”: SPC to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “the organization of…its experiment”: SPC to Alphonso Taft, April 28, 1861, reel 15, Chase Papers.

  “it seems to me…affirmative answer”: SPC to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “to do any act…a civil war”: Entry for March 16, 1861, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 179.

  “an inevitable…the better”: Simon Cameron to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “impression has gone…untold disaster”: GW to AL, March 15, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “it would not…circumstances”: Caleb B. Smith to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “every new conquest…those who administer it”: MB to AL, March 15, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  if he could keep Virginia…give up Sumter: Thomas, Abraham Lincoln, pp. 251–52; Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 278.

  “utterly ruinous…recognition abroad”: AL, “Message to Congress in Special Session,” July 4, 1861, in CW, IV, p. 424.

  Lincoln sent Fox to talk directly: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, p. 389.

  half-rations…until April 15: Ari Hoogenboom, “Gustavus Fox and the Relief of Fort Sumter,” Civil War History 9 (December 1963), p. 386.

  Lincoln sent Stephen Hurlbut…“a fixed fact”: Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. III, pp. 390–91 (quote p. 391).

  “a cypher…a humdrum lawyer”: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 244.

  “humiliating…their respective states”: WHS to AL, March 28, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “certainly have…show me”: SPC to AL, March 28, 1861, Lincoln Papers.

  “I believe…Whig & Democratic element”: FPB to SPC, March 26, 1861, reel 14, Chase Papers.

  cabinet meetings set for Tuesdays and Fridays: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, p. 247 (quote); Welles diary, Vol. I, (1960 edn.), pp. 7–8.

  William Russell: Leech, Reveille in Washington, p. 51.

  “a subtle, quick…state mysteries”: Entry for March 26, 1861, in William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South (Boston: T. O. H. P. Burnham, 1863), p. 34.

  “put out his hand…‘the Mississippi’”: Entry for March 27, 1861, in ibid., p. 39.