細節
CHASE, Salmon P. (1808-1873), Secretary of Treasury. Autograph letter signed ("S.P. Chase") TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Columbus, Ohio, 17 May 1860. 2 pages, 8vo.
CHASE SWALLOWS HIS CONSIDERABLE PRIDE AND AGREES TO SUPPORT LINCOLN'S 1860 CAMPAIGN
A very revealing letter, that not only has Chase pouring on the flattery, but reveals his deep irritation at losing the nomination--thanks to his own delegates going for Lincoln! "I congratulate you, most heartily," he writes, "on your nomination and shall support you, in 1860, as cordially & earnestly as I did in 1858. The excellent platform adopted and the selection of that true & able man, Hannibal Hamlin, as your associate on the ticket completes my satisfaction with the results of the Convention. They will prove, I am confident, as auspicious to the country as they are honorable to the nominee. Mr. Seward has much reason to be gratified by the large and cordial support which he received and especially by the generous, unanimous constant adhesion, without regard to personal preferences, of the entire delegation from his own great State. Doubtless the similar adhesion of the Illinois delegation affords a higher gratification to you than the nomination itself."
But enough about Lincoln. Chase turns to his own bruised feelings: "The only regret I feel connected with the Convention is incited by the failure of the delegation from Ohio to evince the same generous [good faith] spirit. In this regret I am quite sure you must participate; for I err greatly in my estimate of your magnanimity if you do not condemn, as I do, the conduct of delegates from whatever State, who [violate good faith by disregarding the] disregard, while acting as such, the clearly expressed preference of their [political brethren, explicitly declared through a regular State Convention] own State Convention."
For the man called "as ambitious as Julius Ceasar" by his opponents, accepting defeat with even this degree of grace was not easy. After all, Lincoln finally won the nomination when four of Chase's delegates switched their votes to put Lincoln over the top. This was the second time Chase fell short for the party nomination. His bid at the first Republican convention was doomed for the same reasons he lost in 1860. "Divisions within the Ohio delegation, his image as an anti-slavery radical, concern that he was dangerously ambitious, and his disappointingly weak national organization combined to destroy his hopes for the nomination" (Stephen E. Maizlish, American National Biography Online).
In spite of his feeble showing in Chicago, Chase was an obvious choice for Lincoln's Cabinet in 1861. The new President realized that he not only had to reward the leading lights in the anti-slavery movement (and men like Seward and Chase had been far more prominent than him prior to 1860), but he needed to draw together the rival factions of his party. So former Democrats like Chase and Montgomery Blair were "balanced and ballasted" as Lincoln put it, by old Whigs such as Seward and Bates. Lincoln only met Chase for the first time in January 1861, and was impressed: he "is about one hundred and fifty to any other man's hundred" (quoted in Donald, Lincoln).
CHASE SWALLOWS HIS CONSIDERABLE PRIDE AND AGREES TO SUPPORT LINCOLN'S 1860 CAMPAIGN
A very revealing letter, that not only has Chase pouring on the flattery, but reveals his deep irritation at losing the nomination--thanks to his own delegates going for Lincoln! "I congratulate you, most heartily," he writes, "on your nomination and shall support you, in 1860, as cordially & earnestly as I did in 1858. The excellent platform adopted and the selection of that true & able man, Hannibal Hamlin, as your associate on the ticket completes my satisfaction with the results of the Convention. They will prove, I am confident, as auspicious to the country as they are honorable to the nominee. Mr. Seward has much reason to be gratified by the large and cordial support which he received and especially by the generous, unanimous constant adhesion, without regard to personal preferences, of the entire delegation from his own great State. Doubtless the similar adhesion of the Illinois delegation affords a higher gratification to you than the nomination itself."
But enough about Lincoln. Chase turns to his own bruised feelings: "The only regret I feel connected with the Convention is incited by the failure of the delegation from Ohio to evince the same generous [good faith] spirit. In this regret I am quite sure you must participate; for I err greatly in my estimate of your magnanimity if you do not condemn, as I do, the conduct of delegates from whatever State, who [violate good faith by disregarding the] disregard, while acting as such, the clearly expressed preference of their [political brethren, explicitly declared through a regular State Convention] own State Convention."
For the man called "as ambitious as Julius Ceasar" by his opponents, accepting defeat with even this degree of grace was not easy. After all, Lincoln finally won the nomination when four of Chase's delegates switched their votes to put Lincoln over the top. This was the second time Chase fell short for the party nomination. His bid at the first Republican convention was doomed for the same reasons he lost in 1860. "Divisions within the Ohio delegation, his image as an anti-slavery radical, concern that he was dangerously ambitious, and his disappointingly weak national organization combined to destroy his hopes for the nomination" (Stephen E. Maizlish, American National Biography Online).
In spite of his feeble showing in Chicago, Chase was an obvious choice for Lincoln's Cabinet in 1861. The new President realized that he not only had to reward the leading lights in the anti-slavery movement (and men like Seward and Chase had been far more prominent than him prior to 1860), but he needed to draw together the rival factions of his party. So former Democrats like Chase and Montgomery Blair were "balanced and ballasted" as Lincoln put it, by old Whigs such as Seward and Bates. Lincoln only met Chase for the first time in January 1861, and was impressed: he "is about one hundred and fifty to any other man's hundred" (quoted in Donald, Lincoln).