One of the most remarkable examples of Lincoln's tact and diplomacy is found in his treatment of a Cabinet crisis in December, 1862, when the danger of a permanent division of the Republican party into two hostile factions seemed imminent and unavoidable. As the reader has already learned from this narrative, the Cabinet was never harmonious or united. It was divided by personal jealousies and rivalries as well as by differences concerning matters of policy from the day of the inauguration. Gradually Mr. Seward became the leader of the conservative and Mr. Chase of the radical element of the Republican party, and while both conducted the business of their departments with patriotism, ability, and skill, they were not only mutually hostile, but suspected each other's motives. From a very early day Mr. Chase became an outspoken candidate for the Presidential nomination against Lincoln, and his criticism, as we have learned in Chapter V., included his fellow-members of the Cabinet. Mr. Seward, on the other hand, was loyal to the President, but had given great offence to the radical element of his party by some of his published despatches and private utterances, particularly one diplomatic note in which he had included the antislavery men with the secessionists as responsible for bringing on the war. The dissatisfaction was aggravated by other offences to such a degree that the Republicans of the Senate called a caucus to consider the matter and passed a resolution demanding the dismissal of Mr. Seward from the Cabinet. The cooler members of the Senate succeeded in having this action reconsidered and a substitute resolution adopted requesting a reconstruction of the official family. The meaning and intention of the caucus, however, could not be concealed by this indefinite resolution, and as soon as Mr. Seward learned of the proceeding, he and his son, who was Assistant Secretary of State, tendered their resignations. The President tucked them into a pigeonhole of his desk without comment.
The following morning a caucus committee waited upon the President and presented the resolution, each Senator, in turn, submitting his personal views as to the unfitness of the Secretary of State to remain in the administration, chiefly because of his lack of interest in antislavery measures under consideration which they considered essential to a successful prosecution of the war. Lincoln listened to them with respectful attention, asked an opportunity for reflection, and invited them to return to the White House in the evening for his reply. He called the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward, together at the same hour, and when the committee and the ministers met each was greatly surprised to see the others.
SALMON P. CHASE, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
From a photograph by Brady
The President remarked that he thought it best to fight it out and have it over, and was determined that every point of difference between them should be exposed and explained before his guests separated. He read the resolution of the caucus and then called upon the Senators to explain themselves, which they did with earnestness. The Cabinet replied with equal candor,—all except Secretary Chase, who found himself in a very embarrassing position, because he had been chiefly instrumental in creating the dissatisfaction by misrepresenting the opinions of Seward and the rest of his colleagues to his friends in the Senate. He could not deny it, for the witnesses were present; nor could he defend himself for doing so. He could only protest against being entrapped in a mortifying predicament and express his regret that he had attended the meeting. Without malice, but with the hope of correcting the bad habits of his Secretary of the Treasury, the President had made sure that he should be present.
When everybody had said all that he had to say, Lincoln astonished them by announcing that he intended to take a vote, and he put the question directly whether, after the explanations which had been heard, Mr. Seward should be excused. Senators Grimes, Trumbull, Sumner, and Pomeroy voted "Yes," Senator Harris "No," and Senators Collamer, Fessenden, and Howard declined to vote. Mr. Wade, the other member of the committee, was absent.
The President decided that the vote had been in favor of Mr. Seward. While the Senators realized that the President had outwitted them, they, nevertheless, left the White House satisfied that Seward's position was untenable, and that after this incident he would be compelled voluntarily to retire from the Cabinet. As the committee was leaving the President's room, Senator Trumbull, with great vehemence, accused Mr. Chase of double-dealing, and the latter, having no defence to the charge, tendered his resignation the following morning, and was very much surprised at the alacrity with which the President received it.
When the Cabinet retired, Lincoln took the resignation of Mr. Seward from his desk and, holding it up beside that of Mr. Chase, remarked to a personal friend to whom he had briefly sketched the situation,—
"Now I can ride. I have got a pumpkin in each end of my bag."