Lincoln and Taney

[STS Lincolnite]

(02-04-2015 06:04 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  As far as I know this story is not included in the majority of history books due to lack of evidence. I believe the only source for it is Ward Hill Lamon. I do not believe Lamon said no one could be found to carry it out. No arrest warrant has ever been found. Of course anything is possible, but I think we would need more evidence to say this really happened. Laurie, is there a footnote in the source in which you read about this? If so, does the footnote point to Lamon?

I have never heard this story before. I have no doubt that before he initiated his first suspension of habeas corpus, Lincoln had clearly thought out the drawbacks and benefits as well as what his legal standing was in having done so. If I recall, his reasoning was the Congress was not in session and so he had to act with immediacy or risk great harm to the nation . Then he would then have Congress uphold or strike down his actions when back in session. Therefore, I believe there is no reason he would not or did explain his legal basis for having done so to Taney or anyone else who would ask (whether those individuals agreed with him or not is of course anothe story).

To Laurie's question about an arrest order, I highly doubt Lincoln would have given an immediate order to arrest Taney because of a question of his authority to suspend...that would be inconsistent with his history. He gave a lot of latitude. He kept Seward on his cabinet after an initial run in, he kept Chase on his staff in spite of lots of backdoor manuevering, he kept McClellan in charge even after multiple disagreements, he even took a while to sack the likely corrupt Cameron. Lincoln was not prone to make rash moves like an arrest would have been in this case especially without careful and deliberate thought. He was too politically savy. To have issued an arrest order and have it carried out would have alienated too many important people and created an even greater political firestorm. Lincoln just sort of ignored Taney as Bill articulated. Politically, that seems to be the best move he could have made at the time.