Interesting

[L Verge]

What kind of a relationship did Abraham Lincoln have with his two vice presidents?

Mark Gruben, former Special Education / Mathematics Teacher (Retired) (1987-2015)

Lincoln’s first vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin, was chosen for him; Lincoln did not make the choice, and barely knew Hamlin at all until after they were elected. Hamlin, a US Senator from Maine, was selected partly to bring geographic balance to the ticket, and partly because, as a former Democrat, he could help convince other anti-slavery Democrats to join the Republican Party. At that time, the Vice-President’s role tended toward the legislative branch than the executive - after all, the Vice-President is also President of the Senate - yet he and Lincoln had a good working relationship. They were not particularly close, and he seldom visited the White House, mostly because he and Mary Lincoln disliked each other. From Mary’s perspective, it was largely jealousy - Hamlin took Lincoln’s attention away from her - which produced an uncomfortable tension between them that only grew worse over the four years Hamlin served in office.

Since 1860, Hamlin had been a member of the Maine State Guard, and in June, 1864, his unit was called up. Although he was told that, as Vice-President, he would be excused, he opted to serve anyway. He believed he needed to set an example of the duty expected of a citizen. However, since it was felt that billeting the Vice-President with enlisted men was unseemly, he was placed in officers’ quarters.

All of this was just as well; Lincoln hoped to broaden his base of support, especially since the war was winding down, and the focus would then be on Reconstruction of the nation. Somewhat reluctantly, Hamlin agreed to be dropped from the ticket in the 1864 campaign. Republicans and northern Democrats joined forces to create the National Union Party. Democratic Senator Andrew Johnson, who Lincoln had appointed as military governor of occupied Tennessee in 1862, was selected to run with Lincoln.

Lincoln knew Johnson reasonably well on a professional level, but they were not close friends. Because of his duties as military governor, Johnson had few opportunities to campaign at all, and other than one short visit to Washington in October, 1864, he did not see Lincoln again until they were inaugurated in March, 1865. As such, he had no role in selecting the new cabinet, nor much of anything else. He was barely settled into his new role as Vice-President when, five weeks after taking office, Lincoln was assassinated.