Hannibal Hamlin

[Anita]

Thanks to all who posted here. I found a free eBook by Hamlin's grandson Charles Eugene Hamlin published in 1899. It's over 600 pages and I'm working my way through it. The title is "The Life and Times Of Hannibal Hamlin".
https://archive.org/details/hannibalhamlin00hamlrich

Yes Laurie, from what I've been reading Hamlin didn't want to be Vice President in 1860 and made this known to his supporters at the convention. He wrote this to his wife. " Well, dear, I presume you were as much astonished as myself at my nomination for Vice-President. I was amazed at it. I neither expected nor desired it. But it has been made, and as a man faithful to the cause, it leaves me no alternative but to accept it."

Chapter 36 "The History of Johnson's Nomination"
The author states: "But the facts were not given to the public during Mr. Hamlin s life out of deference to his wishes, and they are now presented chiefly because an attempt was made after Mr. Hamlin s lips were closed forever to represent President Lincoln as the cause of the substitution of Andrew Johnson. This was a slander on the honor of Abraham Lincoln. He not only desired at even his own risk, and finally he was terribly disgusted both for political and personal reasons over the selection of Johnson for his associate. Mr. Hamlin s reasons for maintaining silence will be readily appreciated by those who understood his character. He was inexpressibly pained and disgusted at Johnson s conduct as President, but he believed " the least said the soonest mended." If he had allowed it to be known that Charles Sumner was the chief cause of his defeat, that would have impaired Mr. Sumner s usefulness, and increased the animosity in the Republican party without accomplishing any good. Thus the causes of Mr. Hamlin s retirement from the presidential ticket in 1 864 remained a mystery, except to those who were responsible for it, and a few others. Their silence is in marked contrast to the vociferous professions of wiseacres who claimed to know it all, and yet kept the mystery to themselves until the last important figure of the Lincoln administration had passed away. History need pass no comment on that. The facts of this convention tell their own story." There a supplement to the book with letters from Hay and Nicolay stating Lincoln supported Hamlin as his second term VP.

Roger, is this true or is there more to it? Lincoln had no reason not to share his decision with Hamlin if Johnson was his choice. I can't believe he would let Hamlin find out at the Convention. I believe by the time Lincoln learned what had happened it was too late to go back. There's more than meets the eye here.

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Speaking of Vice Presidents, here's an interesting article by
Beth Py-Lieberman
smithsonian.com
November 18, 2014

"How the Office of the Vice Presidency Evolved from Nothing to Something"
Vice President John Adams once said “In this I am nothing, But I may be everything.” new book tells how the office has moved from irrelevance to power.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni...180953302/