Incident at an Antique Store

[David Lockmiller]

(08-12-2014 03:38 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I am posing this in a non-confrontational manner (I hope) because I have asked this question numerous times to Lincoln students and experts alike and never get a clear answer: Do you (anyone) feel that Reconstruction would have been totally different under Lincoln's leadership? Did he have the political strength and savvy to hold the Radicals at bay once the war was over?

Lincoln's legend-makers appear to be certain that his death sealed the fate of Southerners when it came to overcoming the economic as well as social upheavals that the war had brought. I'm not so sure - and I say that mainly because of human nature.

I know that I'm throwing out one of those "what if" situations. But, hey, someone wrote a whole book on the subject of what if the South had won the war...

Before his last public speech on the night of April 11, 1865, President Lincoln spoke to Noah Brooks: “It is true that I don’t usually read a speech, but I am going to say something tonight that may be important. I am going to talk about reconstruction.”

I believe to answer your first question that you have one of three choices:

1. Read the entire speech by President Lincoln on the night of April 11, 1865.
2. Read Professor Burlingame’s analysis of this speech. [“Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” Professor Michael Burlingame, Vol. Two, pages 802-03.]
3. Read both “1” and “2.” [Best choice.]


As to your second question, I have no doubt that, under Lincoln’s leadership, the policy of Reconstruction of the South would have been quite different and in line with his speech of April 11, 1865. By way of informative illustration, I present the following two stories from the book by the Marquis Adolphe de Chambrun, “Impressions of Lincoln and the Civil War.”

Saturday, February 25, 1865, White House.

The reception was almost over. Many guests had already left. In we went. Upon entering the first parlor, I at once perceived a tall man standing near the door, surrounded by an atmosphere of great respect. No mistake was possible; it was Mr. Lincoln himself! His face denotes an immense force of resistance and extreme melancholy. It is plain that this man has suffered deeply. His eyes are superb, large and with a very profound expression when he fixes them on you. It cannot be said that he is awkward; his simplicity is too great for that. He has no pretense to having worldly ways and is unused to society, but there is nothing shocking in this, quite the contrary. The elevation of his mind is too evident; his heroic sentiments are so apparent that one thinks of nothing else. Nobody could be less of a parvenu. As President of a mighty nation, he remains just the same as he must have appeared while felling trees in Illinois. But I must add that he dominates everyone present and maintains his exalted position without the slightest effort.

I waited fifteen minutes before Mr. Kennedy could bring me up to him and then managed to say that my whole heart was engaged on the side of his political ideals; that I participated enthusiastically in his present success and that of his armies, feeling, as I did, that Union victory was the victory of all mankind. This seemed to please him, for he took my hand in both of his as he said how glad he was to find his POLICIES (emphasis added) so well understood. (Ibid., pages 21-22) [letter to the wife of the Marquis, dated February 27, 1865.]

Sunday, April 9, 1865, on board the River Queen, returning from City Point (Richmond, VA)

I questioned him several times in regard to the relations then existing between France and the United States, relations imperiled by our Mexican expedition. His answer was unfailing: “We have had enough war. I know what the American people want and, thank God, I count for something in the country. Rest assured that during my second term there will be no more fighting.” (Ibid., pages 85-86)

I should add that, if needed, President Lincoln could count upon the invaluable support for his policy of Reconstruction by the leading generals of the War for the Union cause throughout the nation, most especially the support of Lieutenant General U. S. Grant and General William Tecumseh Sherman. A number of former Union generals became President of the United States following the Civil War as an indication of their own political support following the Civil War. All of these generals had the earned respect for their former adversaries of the South, officers and soldiers. Only President Lincoln could have marshalled this political support which would have been favorable to his Reconstruction policy. And, as a politician, President Lincoln’s skills were formidable and proven.