Johnson at odds with Holt & Stanton in June of 1865

[STS Lincolnite]

(02-22-2015 09:04 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(02-21-2015 10:02 AM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  Did they discuss the general idea of clemency/sentence reductions for Mrs. Surratt (and perhaps others) or did they discuss the actual written recommendation for clemency for Mrs. Surratt from the commissioners? This might be a minor difference but I think important. To generally discuss what sentences were recommended and pros and cons is one thing, but to have actually have discussed the written recommendation from the commissioners would definitely show that Johnson lied. He said he never knew of the commissioner's recommendation for clemency prior to the execution.

Scott, I agree with you. You make an excellent point. It's hard to tell for certain based on the way Harlan worded things. As far as I can tell only one other Cabinet member spoke/wrote about the meeting, but he didn't feel right discussing specifically what was said in Cabinet meetings. This man was James Speed. Speed wrote Holt on March 30, 1873:

"After the finding of the military commission that tried the assassins of Mr. Lincoln, and before their execution, I saw the record of the case in the President's office, and attached to it was a paper, signed by some of the members of the commission, recommending that the sentence against Mrs. Surratt be commuted to imprisonment for life; and, according to my memory, the recommendation was made because of her sex. I do not feel at liberty to speak of what was said at Cabinet meetings. In this I know I differ from other gentlemen, but feel constrained to follow my own sense of propriety."

Thanks Roger. From this, I get the impression that Speed felt Johnson did know about the commissioner's recommendations for clemency for Mrs. Surratt prior to the execution. Of course, again, it is not stated overtly. He saw the document "in the President's office". So I suppose someone in the President's office could have removed the attached paper before Johnson saw it. But that would beg the question why Speed would see a document in the President's office before the President would.

I was looking through Welles' diary and he makes no reference to this discussion at a cabinet meeting. In fact I could find no reference to the final decision of the commissioners or the execution itself. This is baffling to me as he did mention earlier in his diary his discomfort with the decision to try by military commission vs. civilian court. Of course the version I was reading was the 1911 version which was notoriously edited and re-edited by Welles and his son prior to publication. The most recent (and excellent, I might add) version published in 2014 ends in April 1865 so doesn't get to the period of the conspirator's trial.

Roger, can you give more context on the letter Speed wrote to Holt? Was Holt trying to vindicate himself (as to his claim that he did in fact give Johnson the written recommendation - which Johnson denied) by trying to find someone who would corroborate that Johnson had received and seen the recommendation?