In November 1861,
"During the last two decades the singular practice developed in the United States of not electing to the presidency any man who occupied an authoritative position in his own party. The names of such men, it is true, were utilised for election demonstrations, but as soon as it came to actual business, they were dropped and replaced by unknown mediocrities of merely local influence. In this manner Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, etc., became Presidents. Likewise Abraham Lincoln. General Andrew Jackson was in fact the last President of the United States who owed his office to his personal importance, whilst all his successors owed it, on the contrary, to their personal unimportance."

Wild guess --> Giuseppe Garibaldi.

(04-24-2018 06:46 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Wild guess --> Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Not too wild ... but also not correct, Roger.

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As Roger thought, the writer's first language was not English. But he later became very proficient in it (alarmingly so, IMO).

He wrote articles (though the above quoted text was NOT included in one of these) for a US newspaper which (apparently) was the first one to include a regular section of literary reviews.

Maybe Tsar Alexander II (?)

Karl Marx

Well done, Bill. And sorry for delay (I've only just got up).

The Dismissal of Fremont This is a marxists.org site (so if you prefer not to access it, I can understand)

Who wrote this?

"Lincoln's woe-filled marriage to a woman who publicly humiliated him, physically abused him, criticized him sharply, disgraced him with unethical conduct, and made his domestic life what William Herndon termed a 'burning, scorching hell.'''

Walt Whitman seems to crop up often ...I'll try him.

Sounds to me like something Michael Burlingame would have written.

Best
Rob

Good try Michael, but Rob is correct. Good job, Rob. The quote is from Burlingame's An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd.

No googling please.

Robert L. O'Brien was a personal secretary and executive clerk for President Grover Cleveland. O'Brien wrote this:

"____________ was an intrinsically stupid man who lived on his pretended intimacy with Abraham Lincoln..."

Whom was O'Brien referring to?

William Herndon?

Nope, it wasn't Herndon, Michael.

William Crook?

Excellent, Joe! It is indeed William H. Crook. I came across the quote in the The Journal of the Lincoln Assassination. Included in this edition is an article about William H. Crook which emphasizes his untrustworthiness as a source. The topic of Crook's unreliability has been discussed previously on this forum. O'Brien's quote is in relation to Crook's claim that he was a member of the Lincoln party in Richmond at the end of the war. Both O'Brien and Crook worked together in the Cleveland administration. O'Brien was using Francis Burke (coachman) as a source; Burke said Crook was not a member of the Lincoln party that traveled to Richmond.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Crook