If Lincoln had not died

[Liz Rosenthal]

(01-05-2013 12:55 PM)william l. richter Wrote:  Lincoln, whether one agrees with him or not (and I do not), was merely outwardly dumb--and inwardly sly as a fox. Seward was the first of his cabinet to realize that and became his most loyal advocate and advisor. Others, like Chase and Cameron, the Radical Republicans in Congress, and to a much lesser degree Stanton, never really caught on.

Lincoln did not habitually "play dumb." He may have used it as a tactic in dealing with certain people, but volume after volume is rife with examples of his substantive and serious interactions with politicians, journalists and others. A good number of humorless people were offended by Lincoln's frequent story-telling, which could account for a belief in some circles that he was a buffoon. Then there was his lack of grace, if you will. He didn't know how to or didn't care to stand, walk and communicate with others in the accepted "gentlemanly" manner. This also put off a lot of people.

My impression is that Chase was the only member of the Cabinet who never grew to admire and/or respect Lincoln. Chase was too busy plotting to become president. Stanton seems to have done a complete 180 on his opinion of Lincoln. He came into the Administration with a pretty bad opinion of Lincoln's abilities, partly stemming from that 1855 encounter in Cincinnati in which they were both supposed to be representing a defendant in a patent case (except nobody told Lincoln that his services had ceased to be required long before he ever departed for Ohio). Stanton was quick to judge Lincoln on outward appearances. Anyway, he did come around to a great admiration for Lincoln - which shouldn't have taken long given how closely they worked together on a daily basis - and so expressed this feeling to others. It's true that Stanton didn't care for Lincoln's story-telling, but that was just because of his no-nonsense approach to things.