PRESIDENT NOMINATED FIRST.
The day of Lincoln’s second nomination for the Presidency he forgot all about the Republican National Convention, sitting at Baltimore, and wandered over to the War Department. While there, a telegram came announcing the nomination of Johnson as Vice-President.
“What,” said Lincoln to the operator, “do they nominate a Vice-President before they do a President?”
“Why,” replied the astonished official, “have you not heard of your own nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours ago.”
“It is all right,” replied the President; “I shall probably find it on my return.”
“THEM GILLITEENS.”
The illustrated newspapers of the United States and England had a good deal of fun, not only with President Lincoln, but the latter’s Cabinet officers and military commanders as well. It was said by these funny publications that the President had set up a guillotine in his “back-yard,” where all those who offended were beheaded with both neatness, and despatch. “Harper’s Weekly” of January 3rd, 1863, contained a cartoon labeled “Those Guillotines; a Little Incident at the White House,” the personages figuring in the “incident” being Secretary of War Stanton and a Union general who had been unfortunate enough to lose a battle to the Confederates. Beneath the cartoon was the following dialogue: