Johnson at odds with Holt & Stanton in June of 1865

[RJNorton]

(02-21-2015 12:11 AM)Thomas Thorne Wrote:  Fascinating tidbit. If true,it makes Johnson's subsequent statements about being deceived by Holt about the mercy recommendation by the Commission more untenable.

I agree. If the recommendation for mercy were discussed in a Cabinet meeting how could Johnson deny knowledge of it?

James Harlan, the Secretary of the Interior in 1865, in a letter dated May 23, 1875, remembered a Cabinet meeting just after the conspiracy trial at which clemency for Mary Surratt was discussed. Harlan noted the words of Edwin Stanton to Andrew Johnson:

"Surely not, Mr. President, for if the death penalty should be commuted in so grave a case as the assassination of the head of a great nation, on account of the sex of the criminal, it would amount to an invitation to assassins hereafter to employ women as their instruments, under the belief that if arrested and condemned, they would be punished less severely than men. An act of executive clemency on such a plea would be disapproved by the Government of every civilized nation on earth."