A. Lincoln_ A Biography Part 15

Lincoln, overcome with emotion, nevertheless kept his cool. Adjusting his stovepipe hat, he told the huge crowd, "It has been my purpose, since I have been placed in my present position, to make no speeches." He did admit, "I confess with grat.i.tude ... that I did not suppose my appearance among you would create the tumult which I now witness."

Lincoln's problem became how to extricate himself from that tumult. When the crowd surrounded and stopped his carriage, George Brinkerhoff, a clerk in the state auditor's office, joined with several other men in pulling Lincoln out of the carriage and "slipped him over the horses tail on to the saddle [and] led the horse to town."

In August, Lincoln was particularly delighted to receive a letter of congratulations from his old friend Edward Baker. Writing from San Francisco, Baker, having known Lincoln for a quarter century, pinpointed the two characteristics that best described the president-elect. Baker wrote, "The reward that fidelity and courage, find in your person will infuse hope in many sinking bosoms, and new energy in many bold hearts." Lincoln would need both fidelity and courage for the challenges ahead.

WITH HIS OPPONENTS DIVIDED, Lincoln was confident he would win, but he was taking nothing for granted. In the nineteenth century, state elections took place throughout the calendar year; the victories of Republicans in Maine and Vermont in August seemed to many a harbinger of good things to come. Lincoln looked forward eagerly to the results of elections in early October in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.

Lincoln believed that early state elections could have a domino effect, influencing voters in other states. When he heard that expected September victories in two congressional districts in Maine might not materialize, and that Governor Israel Washburn's margin of victory in his race for reelection might be much smaller than originally predicted, he wrote an urgent letter to Senator Hamlin, his vice presidential running mate, who was from Maine. "Such a result ... would, I fear, put us on the down-hill track, lose us the State elections in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and probably ruin us on the main turn in November."

Even with direction from Lincoln and a national committee, much of the campaign was under the control of state Republican organizations. This meant that in Ma.s.sachusetts voters heard a strong antislavery message, whereas in Pennsylvania that message was muted in favor of one about protective tariffs. In the West, Republicans emphasized commitments to homestead opportunities and the building of the transcontinental railroad. Nonetheless, Republicans everywhere extolled the virtues of Lincoln and of sustaining the Union.

Douglas, whom Lincoln knew to be his chief rival, threw aside the nineteenth-century tradition of campaign abstention, and launched a strenuous crusade, believing he still could carry the populous free states with their large electoral votes. He put far more weight on the threats from the South than did Lincoln, and therefore tried to circulate the message that only his election could bring about peace between North and South.

The Little Giant and his supporters held nothing back in their attacks on Lincoln. Douglas partisans accused Lincoln of being a Deist-someone who believed only in natural religion-and circulated stories of Lincoln's near duel with James s.h.i.+elds. They charged that Lincoln had once joined a secret Know-Nothing lodge in Quincy and dredged up the story of Lincoln's supposed lack of support for the troops in the Mexican War. Both Douglas and John Bell, presidential candidate of the Const.i.tutional Union Party, sought to portray Lincoln and the Republicans as the party of disunion.

In response to these attacks, Lincoln said nothing about secession. His policy was not to credit such fears, even in the fall of 1860. He believed talk of secession in the South was mostly bl.u.s.ter. He remained confident that, as a son of the South, he understood the mind of the Southern people. He continually referred people to his written speeches, because he believed Southerners would find in them his repeated promise not to touch slavery where it already existed in the South. In response to a letter in early August, Lincoln replied, "The people of the South have too much good sense, and good temper, to attempt the ruin of the government."

In Springfield, Lincoln was isolated from the secessionist talk, but throughout the summer and fall of 1860, there was much foreboding across the South. Around the cracker barrels at country stores and on porches of sprawling mansions, people turned Lincoln into a caricature. Southerners depicted him as a Black Republican who was secretly aligned with abolitionists ready to unleash slave rebellions throughout the South. Southerners did not read Lincoln's speeches, but they heard that Douglas had accused him in 1858 of favoring Negro equality. The spirit of 1776 was being rekindled in the South; this time the enemy was not the despotic British, but the tyrannical North about to elect an unknown man from the West.

Lincoln rejoiced, and also expressed a sense of relief, when victories in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana were announced at the beginning of the second week of October. On October 12, 1860, Lincoln wrote to Seward, "It now looks as if the Government is about to fall into our hands."

All through October, Lincoln maintained his policy of silence. Although some supporters suggested that he write a public letter in the last days of the campaign setting forth his key ideas and allaying fears in the South, he continued with his strategy and said nothing.

ON A SUNNY ELECTION DAY MORNING, Tuesday, November 6, 1860, Lincoln received visitors at his office in the statehouse. He had never voted for himself in an election and was not planning to do so today. William Herndon persuaded him that he could clip off the presidential electors at the top of the ballot and still cast his vote for the state offices.

In the afternoon, Lincoln walked over to the courthouse to vote. Everywhere Lincoln went on this Election Day, people cheered and followed him. He went home for an early supper with Mary and the boys. He returned to the statehouse by seven, where he intermittently received scattered and inconclusive reports of election results from across the country.

At nine, Lincoln and David Davis and a few others went to the telegraph office. With increasing rapidity, the tapping of the telegraph keys began to spell out Republican victories across the North. Lincoln had one remaining fear. If he did not win New York, with its thirty-five electoral votes, he might not win a majority, and the election would be decided in the House of Representatives. Shortly after midnight, the results from New York signaled that Lincoln would be the sixteenth president of the United States.

With victory a.s.sured, Lincoln walked over to Watson's Confectionery, where Mary and other Republican women had prepared a victory supper. As he entered, the women greeted him, "How do you do, Mr. President!" After eating, he went back to the telegraph office and stayed until nearly two o'clock to monitor the results.

By everyone's remembrance, Lincoln remained remarkably calm through the long evening. He did exclaim that he was "a very happy man ... who could help being so under such circ.u.mstances?" As church bells rang, and cheering exploded, Lincoln finally headed for home. "Mary, Mary, we are elected."

This Lincoln photograph by Samuel G. Alschuler in Chicago on November 25, 1860, shows the president-elect's new whiskers.

CHAPTER 16.

An Humble Instrument in the Hands of the Almighty November 1860February 1861 I NOW LEAVE, NOT KNOWING WHEN, OR WHETHER EVER, I MAY RETURN, WITH A TASK BEFORE ME GREATER THAN THAT WHICH RESTED UPON WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

ABRAHAM LINCOLNFarewell address at Springfield, Illinois, February 11, 1861 -N THE FIRST DAYS AFTER HIS ELECTION, ABRAHAM LINCOLN TOOK THE initial steps to build his administration and determine his policies. He faced a problem never encountered by any of his predecessors-how to preserve the nation. For all his gifts and abilities, Lincoln still did not fully understand the very real possibilities for secession and war while he remained isolated in Springfield. Thinking of himself as a son of the South, he failed to appreciate that Kentucky, as a border state, was not representative of Southern opinion. With his upbeat mind-set, removed from the information and intrigue of Was.h.i.+ngton, as well as Southern state capitals, he remained optimistic that all would yet be well. initial steps to build his administration and determine his policies. He faced a problem never encountered by any of his predecessors-how to preserve the nation. For all his gifts and abilities, Lincoln still did not fully understand the very real possibilities for secession and war while he remained isolated in Springfield. Thinking of himself as a son of the South, he failed to appreciate that Kentucky, as a border state, was not representative of Southern opinion. With his upbeat mind-set, removed from the information and intrigue of Was.h.i.+ngton, as well as Southern state capitals, he remained optimistic that all would yet be well.

Lincoln and his Republican colleagues had become used to persistent enmity between North and South, which, for nearly thirty years, had always stopped short of war. Lincoln, as the first president ever elected by a minority, sectional electorate, faced twin challenges: how to defend the Union but not resort to war, and how to save the Union but not give in to compromise. These challenges would grow, not diminish, in the long months ahead.

"WELL, BOYS, YOUR TROUBLES are over now," Lincoln greeted some newspapermen on the morning after the election; "mine have just begun." Lincoln had gone home at 2 a.m., but not to sleep. Both exhilarated and exhausted, "I then felt, as I never had before, the responsibility that was upon me. I began at once to feel that I needed support, others to share with me the burden." are over now," Lincoln greeted some newspapermen on the morning after the election; "mine have just begun." Lincoln had gone home at 2 a.m., but not to sleep. Both exhilarated and exhausted, "I then felt, as I never had before, the responsibility that was upon me. I began at once to feel that I needed support, others to share with me the burden."

Lincoln stayed up pondering whom he should name to his cabinet. He had been thinking about this question for some time, but on this night he wrote down eight names on a slip of paper: Lincoln Judd Seward Chase Bates M. Blair Dayton Welles Lincoln listed himself at the top, but within the list. The other seven names all had some kind of leaders.h.i.+p experience, in business or politics, whereas Lincoln was keenly aware that he had no executive experience. All were on record as against the extension of slavery into the territories. Lincoln included his three major Republican rivals, William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates. The four other men listed had come into the Republican ranks from previous Free Soil and Democratic affiliations. Lincoln seemed to be aiming for geographical balance. Gideon Welles came from New England (Connecticut); William Seward and William Dayton from Northeastern states (New York and New Jersey); Norman Judd and Salmon Chase from the Northwest (Illinois and Ohio); and Edward Bates and Montgomery Blair from border states (Missouri and Maryland). Lincoln would hold this list close to his chest.

IT TOOK SEVERAL DAYS for the returns to reveal the final shape of the election. Lincoln won with 180 electoral votes, followed by 72 for John Breckinridge, 39 for John Bell, and 12 for Stephen Douglas. Lincoln won the popular contest with 1,866,452 votes to 1,376,957 for Douglas, 849,781 for Breckinridge, and 588,879 for Bell. This highly spirited election drew 82.2 percent of the eligible voters to the polls, making it the second highest turnout in the nation's history. Lincoln won all of the free, Northern states, dividing the electoral votes of New Jersey with Douglas. Despite finis.h.i.+ng second in the popular vote, Douglas won only Missouri. Bell won three states in the upper South: Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Breckinridge won the rest of the South. for the returns to reveal the final shape of the election. Lincoln won with 180 electoral votes, followed by 72 for John Breckinridge, 39 for John Bell, and 12 for Stephen Douglas. Lincoln won the popular contest with 1,866,452 votes to 1,376,957 for Douglas, 849,781 for Breckinridge, and 588,879 for Bell. This highly spirited election drew 82.2 percent of the eligible voters to the polls, making it the second highest turnout in the nation's history. Lincoln won all of the free, Northern states, dividing the electoral votes of New Jersey with Douglas. Despite finis.h.i.+ng second in the popular vote, Douglas won only Missouri. Bell won three states in the upper South: Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Breckinridge won the rest of the South.

In the midst of celebration, there was some sobering news. Lincoln was the first Republican elected as president, but he won with only 39.9 percent of the popular vote, and with almost a million votes less than the combined total of his three opponents. The Republicans had failed to win either chamber of Congress. The most portentous warning for a party that had steadfastly denied it was a sectional party was that Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin won not one vote in ten Southern states.

Immediately after the election, Lincoln committed one of his greatest errors of political judgment by failing to grasp the growing agitation over secession spreading across the South. Senator Truman Smith of Connecticut tried to alert him when he wrote Lincoln a long letter on November 7, 1860. Smith had become aware of a group, "among the most respectable citizens of New York," who were speaking out against Lincoln's election and plans for the nation. The senator told Lincoln, Public exigencies may be such as to make it inc.u.mbent on a successful candidate to speak out, not to repel slander, for that is of little consequence, but to disarm mischief makers, to allay causeless anxiety, to compose the public mind, and to induce all good citizens to ... "judge the tree by its fruit."

Lincoln replied on November 10, 1860, "It is with the most profound appreciation of your motive, and highest respect for your judgment too, that I feel constrained, for the present, at least, to make no declaration for the public." Lincoln's decision to be silent muted his greatest strength-speaking persuasively to any audience.

President-elect Lincoln now sought to organize for a long transition. It would be four months before he would be inaugurated in Was.h.i.+ngton on March 4, 1861. This extended time would remain the pattern in American politics until the second term of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937, when the date for the presidential inauguration was s.h.i.+fted from March 4 to January 20.

Lincoln continued to use the governor's room on the second floor of the statehouse, a room about fifteen by twenty-five feet in size, with long windows looking out on the south and east sides of the square. He arrived each morning looking much the same, except for a fringe of beard he had begun to grow. Eleven-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, had written him on October 15, 1860, urging him to grow a beard. She told Lincoln, "You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President."

John G. Nicolay, Lincoln's one-man campaign staff, now became his one-man transition team. Lincoln worked at a corner table with his secretary. "Heaps and hills" of newspapers were piled everywhere. Letters cascaded in from Republican leaders recommending themselves or others for offices. Lincoln dictated responses or wrote them in his own hand. Hate mail from the South also arrived regularly, constantly comparing Lincoln to the devil. The writers threatened him with death by hanging, gibbet, and stiletto. Most were not signed with real names, but rather by the "Southern Brotherhood" or other such organizations.

Lincoln greeted friends, politicians, reporters, and visitors in his corner office from ten until twelve. At noon, he walked home for lunch with Mary and the boys. He returned to work with Nicolay in the early afternoon and held another open house from three until five-thirty. The young newspaperman Henry Villard, posted to Springfield to cover Lincoln for the New York Herald, New York Herald, recorded the scene in the first days after Lincoln's election. "He sits or stands among his guests, throwing out hearty Western welcomes, asking and answering questions, joking, endeavoring to make matters every way comfortable to all present." recorded the scene in the first days after Lincoln's election. "He sits or stands among his guests, throwing out hearty Western welcomes, asking and answering questions, joking, endeavoring to make matters every way comfortable to all present."

People even followed Lincoln home at night and "he was once more crowded upon in his parlor, and had to undergo another agony of presentations ... by the constant influx of an ill-mannered populace." Mary enjoyed the visibility and attention, but she had "to endure," night after night, the complete first floor of her home filled with visitors, as many "callers ask each other, 'Is that the old woman?' " Villard, who had covered Lincoln in the debates in 1858, was impressed that Lincoln's personality had not changed with his election. "He is precisely the same man as before-open and generous in his personal communications with all who approach him."

UNDER RELENTLESS PRESSURE to speak about his policies as the future president, Lincoln partially broke his silence on November 20, 1860. Senator Trumbull was slated to speak at a Republican victory celebration in Springfield, and Lincoln gave him two paragraphs to insert into his speech. Lincoln sat beside Trumbull as he announced that under the new Republican administration "each and all of the States will be left in as complete control of their own affairs respectively, and at as perfect liberty to choose, and employ, their own means of protecting property, and preserving peace and order within their respective limits, as they have ever been under any administration." to speak about his policies as the future president, Lincoln partially broke his silence on November 20, 1860. Senator Trumbull was slated to speak at a Republican victory celebration in Springfield, and Lincoln gave him two paragraphs to insert into his speech. Lincoln sat beside Trumbull as he announced that under the new Republican administration "each and all of the States will be left in as complete control of their own affairs respectively, and at as perfect liberty to choose, and employ, their own means of protecting property, and preserving peace and order within their respective limits, as they have ever been under any administration."

These words were meant to rea.s.sure the South, but the speech continued with words that took away that a.s.surance. "Disunionists per se, per se, are now in hot haste to get out of the Union, precisely because they perceive they can not, much longer, maintain apprehension among the Southern people that their homes, and firesides, and lives, are to be endangered by the action of the Federal Government." Lincoln's insertion revealed that he wrongly believed the secessionists represented only a tiny minority of Southern sentiment. His concluding words were the most surprising of all. "I am rather glad of this military preparation in the South. It will enable the people the more easily to suppress any uprisings there, which their misrepresentations of purposes may have encouraged." Fortunately, Trumbull decided not to include these two sentences, and the public never heard them. are now in hot haste to get out of the Union, precisely because they perceive they can not, much longer, maintain apprehension among the Southern people that their homes, and firesides, and lives, are to be endangered by the action of the Federal Government." Lincoln's insertion revealed that he wrongly believed the secessionists represented only a tiny minority of Southern sentiment. His concluding words were the most surprising of all. "I am rather glad of this military preparation in the South. It will enable the people the more easily to suppress any uprisings there, which their misrepresentations of purposes may have encouraged." Fortunately, Trumbull decided not to include these two sentences, and the public never heard them.

Trumbull's address satisfied no one. The Democratic-leaning New York Herald New York Herald charged that the president-elect seemed to be either cut off from "all knowledge of the Southern revolutionary movements of the day; or that he is so completely under the control of his party advisors that he dare not speak; or that he feels himself unequal to the crisis, and is afraid to speak." charged that the president-elect seemed to be either cut off from "all knowledge of the Southern revolutionary movements of the day; or that he is so completely under the control of his party advisors that he dare not speak; or that he feels himself unequal to the crisis, and is afraid to speak."

Though following the nineteenth-century tradition of refusing to speak publicly before inauguration, in private Lincoln worked tirelessly to influence events in the coming months, by both affirmation and rejection of ideas brewing in Congress. On November 21, 1860, Lincoln left Springfield, for the first time in more than six months, for a three-day meeting with Vice Presidentelect Hamlin and several others in Chicago.

Calling himself a private citizen, Lincoln purchased tickets on the Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad. He and Mary traveled with Lyman and Julia Trumbull-Mary was now speaking to Julia-in a regular crowded train car. Lincoln also invited Joshua Speed and his wife, f.a.n.n.y, to come from Kentucky, as he wished to surround himself with friends, even as he sought to build a government mostly with men he had never met. Lincoln spoke with Speed, a Southerner who disagreed with Lincoln about slavery, about a cabinet position, but his longtime friend was not interested.

In Chicago, Lincoln explained to Hamlin and Trumbull that he wanted to reach out to his rivals, especially Seward, Bates, and Chase; he wanted to tap the best talent available for the difficult road ahead. He was most concerned about getting Seward on board as secretary of state. He wondered if Seward, rejected by the convention, might in turn reject Lincoln's invitation. He entrusted Senator Hamlin, wise to the ways of Was.h.i.+ngton politics, to handle the negotiations with Seward. As Trum-bull listened to Lincoln's rationale to secure the most able leaders for the cabinet, he began to a.s.sume that Lincoln "would lean heavily on members of his Cabinet and leave many crucial decisions to them."

Lincoln looked forward to meeting with Vice Presidentelect Hannibal Hamlin at a conference in Chicago in November 1860.

ON DECEMBER 3, 1860, Lincoln waited anxiously for news from Was.h.i.+ngton: On this day the Thirty-sixth Congress would a.s.semble and receive President Buchanan's fourth and final annual message. Buchanan was popularly known as a "doughface," a derogatory term for the Northerners who, pliable like dough, adapted their views to appease Southern leaders on slavery. In his farewell, the seventy-year-old president placed responsibility for the national crisis on the North. "The long continued and intemperate interference of the northern people with the question of slavery in the southern States has at length produced its natural effects." How could the present crisis be settled? "All that is necessary" is for the South "to be let alone and permitted to manage their domestic inst.i.tutions in their own way."

President Buchanan told the states of the South there was no legal right under the Const.i.tution to proceed to acts of secession, because the United States was an organic Union and not merely a voluntary a.s.sociation of states. Having denied that the federal government, under his leaders.h.i.+p, was guilty of any abuse of Southern rights, Buchanan put Lincoln on notice. "Reason, justice, a regard for the Const.i.tution, all require we shall wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President elect, before resorting to such a remedy." Finally, Buchanan declared that he did not have the power to mediate the conflict between the federal government and the states, something only Congress had the power to do.

Lincoln, upon reading the address, felt dismay at Buchanan's a.s.sessment of the crisis. He realized that the lame-duck president would continue to be part of the problem.

IN HIS INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE, Lincoln found a number of letters advocating the inclusion of Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania in the cabinet. He had not included Cameron in his original list, in part because he had heard a steady refrain of charges that Cameron was a wire-puller whose politics always ended up being economically profitable for himself. Now, as Lincoln sought to resolve the final shape of the cabinet, a tug-of-war developed between pro-and anti-Cameron forces.

Lincoln also reread a letter from Henry J. Raymond. From his post as editor of the New York Times, New York Times, Raymond had become aware of the public misunderstanding about the intentions of Lincoln and the new Republican administration. He had written to urge Lincoln to make some rea.s.suring statement and, rather audaciously, sent Lincoln some sentences of what the president-elect ought to say. Lincoln, having sat on Raymond's letter, now replied that he believed his policy of silence had "a demonstration in favor of my view." Lincoln had been talked into inserting words into Trumbull's speech, but now he asked Raymond, "Has a single newspaper, heretofore against us, urged that speech [upon its readers] with a purpose to quiet public anxiety?" Lincoln, irritated and reaching for a way to express his discontent to the Raymond had become aware of the public misunderstanding about the intentions of Lincoln and the new Republican administration. He had written to urge Lincoln to make some rea.s.suring statement and, rather audaciously, sent Lincoln some sentences of what the president-elect ought to say. Lincoln, having sat on Raymond's letter, now replied that he believed his policy of silence had "a demonstration in favor of my view." Lincoln had been talked into inserting words into Trumbull's speech, but now he asked Raymond, "Has a single newspaper, heretofore against us, urged that speech [upon its readers] with a purpose to quiet public anxiety?" Lincoln, irritated and reaching for a way to express his discontent to the New York Times New York Times editor, concluded with Jesus's words " 'They seek a sign, and no sign shall be given them.' " Jesus's words were delivered to "an evil and adulterous generation;" Lincoln characterized his own generation as possessed by " 'Party malice' and not 'public good.' " editor, concluded with Jesus's words " 'They seek a sign, and no sign shall be given them.' " Jesus's words were delivered to "an evil and adulterous generation;" Lincoln characterized his own generation as possessed by " 'Party malice' and not 'public good.' "

Lincoln's first choice for his cabinet was Seward, but he did not consider the effect that New York politics, as well as the rumor mill, would have on his wish. While Lincoln proceeded in his own mind with all deliberate speed, others wondered aloud why he was taking so long to decide on the key appointment of secretary of state. This interval of silence allowed for the anti-Seward factions in New York to recycle their criticisms. Then political gossip began to circulate that Lincoln did not really want Seward but intended to offer him the position with the expectation that Seward would decline it. As these rumors drifted back to Springfield, Lincoln took up his pen on December 8, 1860, to write Seward directly. He admitted he had "delayed so long to communicate" because of what he thought was "a proper caution in this case." As for the gossip, "I beg you to be a.s.sured that I have said nothing to justify these rumors. ... It has been my purpose, from the day of the nomination at Chicago, to a.s.sign you, by your leave, this place in the administration." Several days later, Seward thanked Lincoln for the honor of the invitation, but asked for more time to consider it.

Lincoln now contacted Bates, next in priority for the cabinet. Lincoln offered to travel the ninety miles to meet the august, bearded Bates in St. Louis, but the old-line Whig believed that would be demeaning for the president-elect, and offered to come to Springfield instead. They met in Bates's room at the Chenery House on December 15, 1860. Lincoln offered him the position of attorney general, which he accepted. Immediately after their conference, Bates confided to his diary that he found Lincoln "free in his communications and candid in his manner."

LINCOLN BELIEVED THAT ONE WAY to rea.s.sure the South that his was not a sectional government was to include at least one Southerner in his cabinet. Hamlin had supported this idea in their face-to-face meeting in Chicago, as did Seward and Judge Davis. Lincoln considered James Guthrie, a Kentuckian who had served both as president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and as secretary of the treasury in the Pierce administration. Lincoln sent Speed to feel out Guthrie who, about to turn seventy-two, said he supported the Union but did not want the position. to rea.s.sure the South that his was not a sectional government was to include at least one Southerner in his cabinet. Hamlin had supported this idea in their face-to-face meeting in Chicago, as did Seward and Judge Davis. Lincoln considered James Guthrie, a Kentuckian who had served both as president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and as secretary of the treasury in the Pierce administration. Lincoln sent Speed to feel out Guthrie who, about to turn seventy-two, said he supported the Union but did not want the position.

As he deliberated over his cabinet, Lincoln learned of a striking speech delivered by one of the most reasonable Southern leaders, Alexander Stephens, his old Whig colleague from the Thirtieth Congress, who had recently retired from Congress. On November 14, 1860, Stephens, even more shrunken in form than when Lincoln had known him, had pleaded in a speech to the Georgia legislature, "Don't give up the s.h.i.+p. Don't abandon her yet."

Someone called out, "The s.h.i.+p has leaks in her."

"Let us stop them if we can," replied Stephens.

Lincoln wrote to Stephens requesting a copy of his speech. Stephens sent the speech on December 14, along with the injunction, "The country is certainly in great peril, and no man ever had heavier or greater responsibility resting upon him than you have in the present momentous crisis."

After studying Stephens's speech, Lincoln replied on December 22, 1860, asking, "Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly, directly, or or indirectly, indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to a.s.sure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears." Lincoln might have stopped there, but did not. "You think slavery is interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to a.s.sure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears." Lincoln might have stopped there, but did not. "You think slavery is right right and ought to be extended; while we think it is and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub." and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub."

Stephens replied on December 30, 1860. "In addressing you thus, I would have you understand me as being not a personal enemy, but as one who would have you do what you can to save our common country." Yet, Stephens did believe slavery was right, and resented any party that continued to make slavery the primary issue in the country. Lincoln had undoubtedly misinterpreted Stephens's understanding of the Union. He felt a Union upheld by force was "nothing short of a consolidated despotism." In concluding, Stephens appealed to wisdom from Proverbs 25:11 to encourage Lincoln to speak publicly before it was too late. "A word fitly spoken by you now would be like 'apples of gold in pictures of silver.' " Lincoln never replied.

Although Lincoln was a reconciler by nature, and his first instinct was to reach out to his former rivals, after Stephens's reply he became more hesitant about including Southerners in his cabinet. In an editorial he placed in the Illinois State Journal Illinois State Journal on December 12, 1860, affirming the "frequent allusion to a supposed purpose on the part of Mr. Lincoln to call into his cabinet two or three Southern gentlemen, from the parties opposed to him politically," he asked two questions. on December 12, 1860, affirming the "frequent allusion to a supposed purpose on the part of Mr. Lincoln to call into his cabinet two or three Southern gentlemen, from the parties opposed to him politically," he asked two questions.

1. Would such a person "accept a place in the cabinet?"

2. "Does he surrender to Mr. Lincoln, or Mr. Lincoln to him, on the political differences between them?"

Seward, Thurlow Weed, and Judge Davis nevertheless continued to press Lincoln to consider a Southerner. He hosted Weed for a two-day meeting in Springfield on December 20 and 21, 1860. They were joined by Davis and Swett. Weed, a tall man whose elongated nose was compared by cartoonists to Cyrano de Bergerac's, had earned a reputation as a tough political operator in New York. He found himself surprised by his attraction to Lincoln. "While Mr. Lincoln never underestimated the difficulties which surrounded him, his nature was so elastic, and his temperament so cheerful, that he always seemed at ease and undisturbed." Lincoln told Weed that "the making of a cabinet" was not nearly as easy as he had supposed.

Weed encouraged Lincoln to have at least two members of the cabinet from slaveholding states, but Lincoln wondered if these "white crows" could be trusted over the long haul. Vice Presidentelect Ham-lin proposed North Carolina congressman John A. Gilmer, a slaveholder and former Whig. Gilmer had written a long letter to Lincoln on December 10, 1860. "For one politically opposed to you" Gilmer had encouraged Lincoln to write a "clear and definite exposition of your views," which "may go far to quiet, if not satisfy all reasonable minds, that on most of them it will become plain that there is more misunderstanding than difference." To probe what differences there were, Gilmer asked Lincoln six detailed questions. Lincoln replied on December 15 with a question of his own: "May I be pardoned if I ask whether even you have ever attempted to procure the reading of the Republican platform, or my speeches, by the Southern people?" Lincoln wanted to know why a new statement would "meet a better fate? ... It would make me appear as if I repented for the crime of having been elected, and was anxious to apologize and beg forgiveness." Lincoln referred Gilmer to chapter and verse in the published Joint Debates Joint Debates but also answered his questions in some detail. In the end, he said to Gilmer what he said to Alexander Stephens: "You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted." Lincoln did, however, authorize Weed to explore a cabinet position with Gilmer. The matter lingered on through January, Lincoln telling Seward on January 12, 1861, that he still hoped Gilmer would "consent to take a place in the cabinet." Gilmer wrote on January 29 declining the invitation. but also answered his questions in some detail. In the end, he said to Gilmer what he said to Alexander Stephens: "You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted." Lincoln did, however, authorize Weed to explore a cabinet position with Gilmer. The matter lingered on through January, Lincoln telling Seward on January 12, 1861, that he still hoped Gilmer would "consent to take a place in the cabinet." Gilmer wrote on January 29 declining the invitation.

A struggle ensued over whether to appoint Henry Winter Davis, a former Whig, or Montgomery Blair, a former Democrat, both from Maryland, where they were locked in a bitter rivalry for leaders.h.i.+p of the Republican Party. In the end, Blair prevailed. At some point Weed asked Lincoln if it was wise to give former Democrats a majority of one in the new cabinet. Lincoln, with his wrinkled smile, replied, "But why do you a.s.sume that we are giving that section of our party a majority of the cabinet? You seem to forget that /expect to be there; and counting me as one, you see how nicely the cabinet would be balanced and ballasted."

With Bates and now Blair joining the cabinet, Lincoln was content that his choices would appease Southerners. He overestimated the effect the appointment of two border-state politicians-one of whom had been a candidate for the Republican nomination for president-would have on the South's perception of him and failed to understand the violent feelings represented by leaders such as Senators Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, Robert Toombs of Georgia, and John Slidell of Louisiana.

IN LINCOLN'S TRANSITION WINTER, he would spend much more time than he expected in dealing with a Republican house divided. The Republicans of 1856 found cohesion in their role as an opposition party. The Republicans in the winter of 186061 had become an inst.i.tution in power torn between radicals and conservatives who represented different regions and had different viewpoints on slavery and the South.

Lincoln won his leaders.h.i.+p spurs in Illinois by building a coalition brought together by initial opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Stephen Douglas and staying together because of its hatred of Pierce, Buchanan, and Democratic corruption. Many ex-Whigs and ex-Democrats became Republicans more for what they were against than what they were for. Now, Lincoln faced Republican acrimony not only in states such as Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland, but also on the national stage of the House and Senate in Was.h.i.+ngton.

The question on everyone's lips was where Lincoln stood in the midst of this spectrum of beliefs. His nomination gave all sides hope that he was on their side. Conservatives voted for him both because he was a former Whig, and because they could not vote for Seward. Radicals knew of his persistent stand against the extension of slavery. As rumors swirled about his cabinet selections, some Republicans became fearful he would surround himself with old-line Whigs; others worried that he would be open to too many ex-Democrats. All factions within the party believed they could persuade him to move in their direction.

In Congress, Republicans and many Democrats-having lost confidence in President Buchanan-scurried to forge some kind of consensus on secession. With Lincoln publicly silent in Springfield, others stepped in to fill the void. Seward became viewed by many as the unofficial head of the party. Once he accepted his new role as secretary of state-a position that in the first seventy-two years of the Republic exhibited far more power over administrative policy than in modern times-he began to exercise leaders.h.i.+p, sometimes on his own accord.

Old John J. Crittenden, the un.o.btrusive seventy-three-year-old senator from Kentucky, offered compromise legislation that he hoped could stop the secessionist impulse. Born during the Const.i.tutional Convention and first entering the Senate at the inauguration of President James Monroe in 1817, Crittenden, an old-line Henry Clay Whig, had seen it all. With his still-erect angular frame, sparkling dark eyes, iron-gray hair, and a tobacco quid in his jaw, he was calm and thoughtful in demeanor. He shone not in speeches on the Senate floor but in the art of private negotiation.

If Lincoln believed he knew Kentucky, Crittenden was convinced he understood it much better. His legislation grew from his experiences in a border state he thought of as three states. Unbridled secessionists nestled together on the southern border with Tennessee, Unionists tended to live along the Ohio River in northern Kentucky, and the central part of the state was inhabited by people who simply wanted to get along. Crittenden believed that in this sense Kentucky represented a microcosm of the nation at large.

Crittenden rose in the Senate on December 18, 1860, to offer a comprehensive package of six const.i.tutional amendments that would remove slavery from federal jurisdiction for all time. The Kentucky senator believed that all agreements since 1787 had been legislative compromises that were always subject to overturning by later Congresses. The first amendment would reinstate the Missouri Compromise all the way to the Pacific Ocean with the effect of protecting slavery south of the line. The second amendment would prohibit Congress from abolis.h.i.+ng slavery in slave states. He also called for a congressional resolution on the fugitive slave law that would recognize the law as const.i.tutional but amend it to take out some clauses "obnoxious" to citizens in the North.

Lincoln watched from Springfield as what became known as the Crittenden Plan gathered momentum. Pet.i.tions poured into Congress supporting it. Business interests in the North and some Republican leaders believed it could provide a way out of the mounting crisis.

Lincoln opposed the Crittenden Plan because it would permit slavery to expand into the West. Congressman Elihu B. Washburne and Senator Lyman Trumbull were Lincoln's eyes and ears in Congress during these critical months. Washburne wrote from Was.h.i.+ngton, "The secession feeling has a.s.sumed proportions of which I had but a faint conception when I saw you at Springfield, and I think our friends generally in the west are not fully apprised of the imminent peril which now environs us." Lincoln, aware that anxiety would push some in his own party toward compromise, wrote to Trumbull, "Let there be no compromise on the question of extending extending slavery. Stand firm. The tug has to come, & better now, than any time hereafter." Three days later, Lincoln wrote to Washburne, "Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends ... entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort. ... hold firm, as with a chain of steel." slavery. Stand firm. The tug has to come, & better now, than any time hereafter." Three days later, Lincoln wrote to Washburne, "Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends ... entertaining propositions for compromise of any sort. ... hold firm, as with a chain of steel."

Despite popular support for the Crittenden Plan, including the backing of some Republicans, Lincoln won high marks for steeling Republicans in the Senate to back away from the illusory compromise.

THE SOUTHERN PRESS was filled with indignation at Lincoln's election. "The election of Lincoln ... means all the insult ... that such an act can do," spewed the was filled with indignation at Lincoln's election. "The election of Lincoln ... means all the insult ... that such an act can do," spewed the Wilmington Wilmington (North Carolina) (North Carolina) Herald. Herald. The The New Orleans Crescent New Orleans Crescent summed up the editorial comment of countless Southern papers: "The Northern people, in electing Mr. Lincoln, have perpetrated a deliberate, cold-blooded insult and outrage on the people of the slaveholding states." In the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, editors spoke out against talk of secession and disunion. St. Louis's summed up the editorial comment of countless Southern papers: "The Northern people, in electing Mr. Lincoln, have perpetrated a deliberate, cold-blooded insult and outrage on the people of the slaveholding states." In the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, editors spoke out against talk of secession and disunion. St. Louis's Missouri Democrat, Missouri Democrat, a Republican newspaper, wrote, "Throughout the campaign ... [Lincoln] has been portrayed by most newspapers as an Abolitionist; a fanatic of the John Brown type. Never was a public man so outrageously misrepresented." Nevertheless, the a Republican newspaper, wrote, "Throughout the campaign ... [Lincoln] has been portrayed by most newspapers as an Abolitionist; a fanatic of the John Brown type. Never was a public man so outrageously misrepresented." Nevertheless, the Richmond Enquirer, Richmond Enquirer, which Lincoln had long read to keep up with the sentiment of the South, charged that "the Northern people, by a sectional vote, have elected a President for the avowed purpose of aggression on Southern rights." The which Lincoln had long read to keep up with the sentiment of the South, charged that "the Northern people, by a sectional vote, have elected a President for the avowed purpose of aggression on Southern rights." The Enquirer Enquirer concluded, "This is a concluded, "This is a declaration of war." declaration of war."

Lincoln continued to believe that the strong Southern talk was mostly bluff. The North had encountered this bl.u.s.ter before, in 1820 and 1850, and also at the time of the formation of the Republican Party in 1856. The plantation owners were angry, but Lincoln was convinced that the ordinary yeoman farmers, whom he believed he understood, would not, in the end, go along with disunion. He continued to think that sensible leaders would stop any final moves toward separation.

The "tug" Lincoln spoke of in his letter to Trumbull became a jolt on December 20, 1860, when a South Carolina convention, meeting in Charleston, voted unanimously to secede from the Union. The die was cast. Or was it? As politicians and editors raged, everyone wondered about Lincoln's att.i.tude. Even as he refrained from public speaking, people looked to the Illinois State Journal for Illinois State Journal for clues to Lincoln's thinking. The clues to Lincoln's thinking. The Journal Journal editorialized that South Carolina could not pull out of the Union without a fight. "If she violates the laws, then comes the tug of war." Editor Baker, in regular conversation with Lincoln, had taken Lincoln's tug a.n.a.logy from the Trumbull letter. "The President of the United States has a plain duty to perform." editorialized that South Carolina could not pull out of the Union without a fight. "If she violates the laws, then comes the tug of war." Editor Baker, in regular conversation with Lincoln, had taken Lincoln's tug a.n.a.logy from the Trumbull letter. "The President of the United States has a plain duty to perform." The Journal The Journal worried, "Disunion by armed force, is treason, and treason must and will be put down at all hazards." worried, "Disunion by armed force, is treason, and treason must and will be put down at all hazards."

Over the next forty days, one by one, the states of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas voted themselves out of the Union, quickly taking over federal inst.i.tutions, including forts and a.r.s.enals. The whole North waited to see if Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas would follow.

IN THE MIDST OF the Union's disintegration, Lincoln made a major priority the preparation of his inaugural address to be delivered in Was.h.i.+ngton on March 4, 1861. He had begun his research shortly after his election, borrowing from the Illinois State Library the Union's disintegration, Lincoln made a major priority the preparation of his inaugural address to be delivered in Was.h.i.+ngton on March 4, 1861. He had begun his research shortly after his election, borrowing from the Illinois State Library The Statesman's Manual, The Statesman's Manual, a volume published in 1854 that contained the addresses and messages of presidents from 1789 to 1849. Lincoln examined President Andrew Jackson's proclamation in the nullification controversy of 1832. As he had done before his Cooper Union address, Lincoln was looking for historic precedents. a volume published in 1854 that contained the addresses and messages of presidents from 1789 to 1849. Lincoln examined President Andrew Jackson's proclamation in the nullification controversy of 1832. As he had done before his Cooper Union address, Lincoln was looking for historic precedents.

In late December, with the coming of a new governor and the convening of the state legislature scheduled on January 7, 1861, Lincoln had to give up his office in the statehouse. Joel Johnson, who owned an office building on the Springfield square, offered Lincoln the use of two offices on the second floor.

Lincoln discovered that these new offices, even busier than the old, were not an ideal place to work on an inaugural address. He accepted an invitation from Clark Moulton Smith, his brother-in-law, to use a room on the third floor of his store as his writing s.p.a.ce. Lincoln wrote and revised at an old merchant's desk, which contained plenty of pigeonholes for his many notes.

The Charleston Mercury's headline trumpeted South Carolina's secession from the Union on December 20, 1860.

In January, Lincoln asked Herndon to acquire copies of two speeches he had long appreciated. As a young man living in New Salem, Lincoln had read Daniel Webster's reply to Robert Hayne. In 1830, after Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina had defended the right of nullification-arguing that ultimate power rested in the states, which could withdraw from the Union-on the floor of the Senate, Senator Webster of Ma.s.sachusetts replied to him, closing with the memorable words, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Lincoln also asked for a copy of Senator Henry Clay's memorable speech in support of the Compromise of 1850.

By late January, Lincoln asked William H. Bailhache, one of the owners of the Illinois State Journal, Illinois State Journal, to secretly print copies of his inaugural address. For an address of this magnitude, he decided to seek the suggestions of a few friends. He asked Judge Davis to read the entire address, but he made no suggestions. Lincoln put copies of his address, plus notes for speeches for the trip to Was.h.i.+ngton, in a black oilcloth handbag, which he gave to his son Robert for safekeeping on the train and in the cities they would be visiting in February. to secretly print copies of his inaugural address. For an address of this magnitude, he decided to seek the suggestions of a few friends. He asked Judge Davis to read the entire address, but he made no suggestions. Lincoln put copies of his address, plus notes for speeches for the trip to Was.h.i.+ngton, in a black oilcloth handbag, which he gave to his son Robert for safekeeping on the train and in the cities they would be visiting in February.

TOWARD THE END OF JANUARY, Lincoln began his farewells to family and friends. On January 30, 1861, Lincoln slipped away from reporters and office seekers and traveled by train and horse and buggy to Farmington, a small remote community in Coles County. He wished to see his aging stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln. The summer before, when she heard of her stepson's nomination, she feared that if elected something terrible would happen to him. Lincoln also wanted to visit his father's grave, which had stood unmarked since 1851. On this trip, Lincoln ordered a stone marker for it.

Returning to Springfield, Lincoln concluded many personal and family matters. He rented the beloved family home to Lucian Tilton, the retired proprietor of the Wabash Railroad, for $350 a year. The Lincolns sold much of their furniture. They gave away their floppy-eared dog Fido to neighbor boys John and Frank Roll, whose father, John Roll, was the carpenter who had helped remodel the Lincoln home. Fearing a violation of privacy, Mary burned heaps of old letters and papers in the rear alley. Lincoln left a batch of his letters and papers for safekeeping with Elizabeth Grimsley, Mary's cousin. Mistaking the speeches and letters for trash, Grimsley's maid would later burn most of the contents, which included Lincoln's "Discoveries and Inventions" speech as well as the partial drafts from his "House Divided" speech. On February 7, 1861, the Lincolns moved out of their home to the Chenery House, a hotel across from Lincoln's office.

On his final day in Springfield, Sunday, February 10, 1861, Lincoln walked to his law office at 105 South Fifth Street to meet his law partner, Herndon. Lincoln rested his large frame on the comfortable sofa one last time. After the two men reminisced about old times and conferred about unfinished legal business, Lincoln requested that the sign board on its rusty hinges at the foot of the stairway should remain. "Let it hang there undisturbed. ... If I live I'm coming back some time, and then we'll go right on practicing law as if nothing had ever happened." On that final evening, Lincoln took some Chenery House cards, turned them over, and wrote, "A. Lincoln, Executive Mansion, Was.h.i.+ngton." The nearly one hundred days as president-elect in Springfield had come to a close.

ON MONDAY MORNING, February 11, 1861, Lincoln arrived at the small, brick Great Western railway station to begin the journey to Was.h.i.+ngton. The day dawned cold with rain dripping from low-hanging clouds.

Lincoln had notified the press that he would offer no speech. After the many farewells of recent days, Lincoln believed there was no need for more words. Newspaperman Villard captured a compelling scene. "The President elect took his station in the waiting-room, and allowed his friends to pa.s.s by him and take his hand for the last time." Lincoln's "face was pale, and quivered with emotion so deep as to render him almost unable to utter a single word."

The ringing of the engine bell alerted Lincoln that it was time to depart. As Lincoln stepped out onto the platform, friends and neighbors who had come to say their good-byes crowded each side of the special train. Despite his publicly announced intention not to speak, the crowd thronging around the rear platform encouraged their neighbor to offer some remarks.

In response to these requests, Lincoln hesitated, gathering himself to offer a speech he had not intended to give. Caught off guard, in the poignancy of this moment, Lincoln bared his spirit in deeply emotive language: "My friends-No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything." Though his personality usually prompted him to conceal rather than to reveal his emotions, he now spoke openly. The sadness etched in his face was voiced in his words. In twelve succinct words, Lincoln offered heartfelt appreciation to a city where he had lived for nearly twenty-four years, and to his neighbors, and friends.

Then Lincoln quickly moved from past to present: "I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Was.h.i.+ngton."

Until now, Lincoln had steadfastly avoided speaking about the task that lay ahead. Now, in the midst of spontaneous remarks about community and family, he inserted what might sound like an audacious comment about himself.

Lincoln, as a young boy, had developed a reverence for George Was.h.i.+ngton through his reading of Mason Locke Weems's Life of George Was.h.i.+ngton. Life of George Was.h.i.+ngton. In his address in 1838 to the Young Men's Lyceum, Lincoln had spoken of the less important role of his own generation compared to that of the giants who came before. As a young man, he had said he was standing at the end of the revolutionary generation now being carried away by "the silent artillery of time." Now an "old man" by his own reckoning, he was being summoned by some unsearchable fate or providence "to a task greater than Was.h.i.+ngton." These words were not boastful. They were offered with a sense of an appointment with destiny. In his address in 1838 to the Young Men's Lyceum, Lincoln had spoken of the less important role of his own generation compared to that of the giants who came before. As a young man, he had said he was standing at the end of the revolutionary generation now being carried away by "the silent artillery of time." Now an "old man" by his own reckoning, he was being summoned by some unsearchable fate or providence "to a task greater than Was.h.i.+ngton." These words were not boastful. They were offered with a sense of an appointment with destiny.

Lincoln concluded, Without the a.s.sistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that a.s.sistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me.

He devoted 63 of his 152 words to sketching the omnipresence of G.o.d.

The G.o.d that Lincoln invoked was more than the creative first force cited by Jefferson. Lincoln appealed to a G.o.d who acted in history-who attended George Was.h.i.+ngton in the past, was able to go go with Abraham Lincoln to Was.h.i.+ngton in the present, and would with Abraham Lincoln to Was.h.i.+ngton in the present, and would remain remain with Lincoln's friends in Springfield in the future. with Lincoln's friends in Springfield in the future.

In saying "To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me," Lincoln reached for prayer as the invisible connective tissue that would bind him to those he was about to leave.

Lincoln's capacity to connect with his audience was demonstrated in their response. His encouragement to pray elicited shouts of "We will do it, we will do it." As Lincoln turned to enter the train, three cheers split the air, and in a few moments the train chugged slowly forward into the dark morning.

As Lincoln took his seat in the pa.s.senger car, the powerful Rogers locomotive began to pull the train slowly east. Newspaper correspondents Henry Villard, Edward L. Baker of the Illinois State Journal, Illinois State Journal, and Henry M. Smith of the and Henry M. Smith of the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune crowded around Lincoln and asked about the speech. In response, Lincoln started to write out what he had said. The effects of a moving train made the task difficult, and at the beginning of the fifth sentence, Lincoln handed the paper to John Nicolay, who took up the task of writing while Lincoln dictated. crowded around Lincoln and asked about the speech. In response, Lincoln started to write out what he had said. The effects of a moving train made the task difficult, and at the beginning of the fifth sentence, Lincoln handed the paper to John Nicolay, who took up the task of writing while Lincoln dictated.