President Lincoln's "Blind Memorandum"

[David Lockmiller]

The lowest point arrived in August [1864], when he and many party leaders became convinced that he would lose. His 1860 campaign manager, David Davis, noted that the public was "getting tired of the war." If the North did "not have military successes soon, and the democrats at Chicago act with wisdom, we are in danger of losing the Presidential election," he warned.

In July, while discussing the clamor for peace, Lincoln told a visitor: "I have faith in the people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is, they are misled. Let them know the truth, and the country is safe." Looking exhausted, he was asked if he worked too hard. "I can't work less, but it isn't that -- work never troubled me. Things look badly, and I can't avoid anxiety. Personally I care nothing about a re-election; but if our divisions defeat us, I fear for the country."

(Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Vol. Two, page 667.) [Note: paragraphs are in reverse order of text.]