Under the caption of “Opening the Presidential Campaign,” Mr. Greeley, in the Tribune of February 23, 1864, thus indicated his change of front toward Mr. Lincoln:
He has been patriotic, honest, and faithful. He has done his utmost to serve and save the country.... He is not infallible, not a genius, not one of those rare, great men who mould their age into the similitude of their own high character, massive abilities, and lofty aims. But, considering his antecedents and his experience of public affairs we are sure the verdict of history in his case will be “well done, thou good and faithful servant.” The luster of his good deeds will far outlive the memory of his mistakes and faults.
Perhaps Greeley stood too close to his subject, but surely these condescending words may be considered a masterpiece of ineptitude.
Nor was Mr. Greeley averse to reprinting hostile criticisms from outside sources, as the following excerpts will witness:
In the New York Tribune, June 21, 1864, under the heading, “Rebel Views of our Nomination—A Railsplitter and a Tailor,” the Richmond Examiner is quoted as saying:
The Convention of Black Republicans in Baltimore have nominated for President of their country Abraham Lincoln, the Illinois railsplitter.
The great army of contractors and office-holders—in short, those who live by war and on the country—have succeeded, at least, in starting Lincoln fairly for another race. It amounts to a declaration that those conventioners desire to see four years more in all respects like unto the last four years.
Another extract from the Richmond Examiner also appears in the Tribune at about the same date:
The only merit we can discover in this Baltimore ticket is the merit of consistency; it is all of a piece; the tail does not shame the head, nor the head shame the tail. A railsplitting buffoon and a boorish tailor, both from the backwoods. Both growing up in uncouth ignorance, they would afford a grotesque subject for a satiric poet.
I had known from the President’s own lips, at my last interview, that he desired the selection of Andrew Johnson, a Tennessean, whose steadfast support of the Federal cause in these troublesome times had attracted attention. I was not in sympathy with that plan, because I thought that Johnson would cost the party many votes among the radicals in New England.