16Th PRESIDENT

Facts About the Presidents

16th PRESIDENT

1 Facts About the Presidents

Date of birth—Feb. 12, 1809 State represented—Illinois Place of birth—Hodgenville, Hardin Term of office—Mar. 4, 1861–Apr. 15, 1865 County (now Larue County), Ky. Term served—4 years, 42 days Education—Sporadic attendance at the Administration—19th, 20th intermittent public schools; self-taught Congresses—37th, 38th, 39th through reading Age at inauguration—52 years, 20 days Religion—Christian (no specific denomina- Lived after term—Died in office tion) Date of death—Apr. 15, 1865 Ancestry—English Age at death—56 years, 62 days Career—Store clerk, soldier, postmaster, rail-splitter, surveyor, lawyer, state legisla- Place of death—Washington, D.C. tor, U.S. congressman Burial place—Oak Ridge Cemetery, Political party—Republican Springfield, Ill. Family

Father Stepmother Name—Thomas Lincoln Name at birth—Sarah Bush Date of birth—Jan. 6, 1778 Date of birth—Dec. 12, 1788 Place of birth—Rockingham County, Va. Place of birth—Hardin County, Ky. First marriage— Nancy Hanks, June 12, First marriage—Daniel Johnston, Mar. 13, 1806, Beechland, Ky. 1806 (d. Oct. 1818) Second marriage—Sarah Bush Johnston Second marriage—Thomas Lincoln, Dec. 2, Occupation—Farmer, soldier, carpenter, 1819, Elizabethtown, Ky. woodcutter, wheelwright, laborer Children from first marriage—Four chil- Date of death—Jan. 17, 1851 dren Place of death—Coles County, Ill. Children from second marriage—None Age at death—73 years, 11 days Date of death—Apr. 10, 1869 Place of death—Charleston, Ill. Mother Age at death—80 years, 119 days Name at birth—Nancy Hanks Date of birth—Feb. 5, 1784 Siblings Place of birth—Campbell County, Va. Abraham Lincoln was the second child of his Marriage—Thomas Lincoln, June 12, 1806, father’s first wife. Beechland, Ky. Children of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Date of death—Oct. 5, 1818 Hanks Lincoln Place of death—Spencer County, Ind. Nancy (“Sarah”) Lincoln, b. Feb. 10, 1807, d. Jan. 20, 1828 Age at death—34 years, 242 days Abraham Lincoln, b. Feb. 12, 1809, d. Apr. 15, 1865

2 Facts About the Presidents

Thomas Lincoln, b. 1811, d. 1813 Children Robert Todd Lincoln, b. Aug. 1, 1843, Spring- Marriage field, Ill.; m. Sept. 24, 1868, Mary Harlan, Married—Mary Todd Washington, D.C.; d. July 25, 1926, Date of marriage—Nov. 4, 1842 Manchester, Vt. Place of marriage—Springfield, Ill. Edward Baker Lincoln, b. Mar. 10, 1846, Springfield, Ill.; d. Feb. 1, 1850, Spring- Age of wife at marriage—23 years, 326 field, Ill. days William Wallace Lincoln, b. Dec. 21, 1850, Age of husband at marriage—33 years, Springfield, Ill.; d. Feb. 20, 1862, at the 265 days White House, Washington, D.C. Years married—22 years, 162 days Thomas (“Tad”) Lincoln, b. Apr. 4, 1853, Springfield, Ill.; d. July 15, 1871, Chicago, Ill. The President’s Wife

Name at birth—Mary Todd The First Lady Date of birth—Dec. 13, 1818 Mary Todd Lincoln served as hostess of Place of birth—Lexington, Ky. the White House in a very simple and quiet Mother—Eliza Ann Parker Todd manner. The war years placed a pall on social Father—Robert Smith Todd functions and much of her time was devoted to war work. Nevertheless, Mrs. Lincoln, Father’s occupation—Banker, manufac- whose family had founded the city of Lexing- turer, merchant, farmer ton, Kentucky, spent extravagant sums in Education—John Ward’s academy and pursuit of her goal of turning the Executive Mme. Mentelle’s school, Lexington, Ky. Mansion into an American palace. She was Marriage—Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 4, 1842, an intelligent, energetic woman who always Springfield, Ill. tried to embody the ideals of nineteenth-cen- Children—Robert Todd Lincoln, b. Aug. 1, tury femininity—being a steadfast mother 1843, d. July 25, 1926; Edward Baker and a loyal, submissive wife—but the rigid Lincoln, b. Mar. 10, 1846, d. Feb. 1, 1850; codes of female conduct in her time placed William Wallace Lincoln, b. Dec. 21, 1850, restrictions on her outspoken ways and inde- d. Feb. 20, 1862; Thomas (“Tad”) Lincoln, b. pendent nature. Apr. 4, 1853, d. July 15, 1871 Date of death—July 16, 1882 Lincoln’s Wife And The South Age at death—63 years, 215 days Mary Todd Lincoln, born in Lexington, Place of death—Springfield, Ill. Ky., was the subject of much speculation. Her Burial place—Springfield, Ill. patriotism was questioned by many. Years younger than the President—9 Her brother, George Rogers Clark Todd, years, 304 days was a surgeon in the Confederate army. Her half-brother, Samuel Briggs Todd, a Years she survived the President—17 soldier in the Confederate army, was killed at years, 92 days the battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6–7, 1862. Another half-brother, David H. Todd, an officer, died from wounds received at Vicks-

3 Facts About the Presidents burg, Miss., and another, Alexander H. Todd, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the was killed at Baton Rouge, La., August 20, United States, appear of my own volition 1862. before this committee of the Senate, to The husband of Emilie, her half-sister, say I, of my own knowledge, know that it is untrue that any of my family hold trea- was Confederate Brigadier General Ben Har- sonable relations with the enemy. din Helm, killed on September 20, 1863, at Chickamauga, Ga. Mrs. Lincoln Committed Two other brothers-in-law were also in the Confederate service. In 1875 a Court of Inquest ordered that President Lincoln appeared before the Mrs. Lincoln “be committed to a state hospi- Senate members of the Committee on the tal for the insane.” She was confined to the Conduct of the War, and made this state- Bellevue Place Sanatorium, a private institu- ment: tion at Batavia, Ill., from May 20, 1875, to September 10, 1875. Important Dates in the President’s Life

1816, family moved from Kentucky to Indi- 1837, moved to Springfield, Ill. ana Mar. 1, 1837, admitted to the bar July 1827, hired to operate a ferry across the Mar. 4, 1847–Mar. 3, 1849, U.S. House of Anderson River in Spencer County, Ind. Representatives (only Whig elected from Apr. 1828, hired to pilot a flatboat from Rock- Illinois) port, Ind., to New Orleans, La. Feb. 8, 1855, unsuccessful Whig candidate for Mar. 1, 1830, family moved from Indiana to senator from Illinois Illinois June 19, 1856, unsuccessful aspirant to the Mar. 1831, hired to build a flatboat at Sanga- Republican vice presidential nomination mon Town, Ill., and take a load of produce Aug.–Oct. 1858, Lincoln-Douglas debates in to New Orleans Illinois (senatorial campaign) 1832, volunteer, Sangamon Rifle Co., Rich- Nov. 2, 1858, unsuccessful candidate for sen- land, Ill.; reenlisted as private; mustered ator from Illinois on Republican ticket out June 16; returned to New Salem, Ill.; May 18, 1860, nominated for the presidency unsuccessful in general merchandise busi- Nov. 6, 1860, elected as first Republican Pres- ness with partner ident Aug. 6, 1832, unsuccessful candidate for Illi- Mar. 4, 1861–Mar. 4, 1865, President (first nois legislature term) Mar. 6, 1833, received saloon license to dis- Nov. 19, 1863, delivered Gettysburg Address pense liquor at Springfield, Ill. (Berry and Nov. 8, 1864, reelected President Lincoln) Mar. 4, 1865, inaugurated President for sec- May 7, 1833, appointed postmaster, New ond term ending Mar. 4, 1869 Salem, Ill. Apr. 14, 1865, assassinated at Ford’s The- Dec. 7, 1835–Feb. 7, 1836, Illinois General ater, Washington, D.C.; died at 7:22 A.M., Assembly Apr. 15

4 Facts About the Presidents

Elections

The Election of 1860 Andrew Johnson, Tenn., 12, 0 Daniel Stevens Dickinson, N.Y., 7, 4 November 6, 1860 Joseph Lane, Ore., 6, 14 1 Candidates Isaac Toucey, Conn., 2 /2, 0 1 Republican Party (2nd Convention) Jefferson Davis, Miss., 1 /2, 1 May 16–18, 1860, the Wigwam, Chicago, Ill. Franklin Pierce, N.H., 1, 0 P: Abraham Lincoln, Ill. Total number of votes: 1 VP: Hannibal Hamlin, Me. First ballot: 252 /2 Lincoln was nominated on the third ballot. Fifty-seventh ballot: 252 Before the third ballot was completed, a shift Number necessary for nomination: 202 in votes brought Lincoln’s total to 364 votes. Unable to reach a decision on the fifty-sev- Candidates for nomination and the votes they enth ballot, the convention adjourned to meet received on the first and third ballots: at Baltimore, Md., on June 18, 1860. William Henry Seward, N.Y., 1731/ , 180 2 Democratic Party (Northern or Douglas 1 Abraham Lincoln, Ill., 102, 231 /2 Democrat) Simon Cameron, Pa., 501/ , 0 June 18–23, 1860, Front Street Theatre, 2 Baltimore, Md. 1 Salmon Portland Chase, Ohio, 49, 24 /2 P: Stephen Arnold Douglas, Ill. Edward Bates, Mo., 48, 22 VP: Herschel Vespasian Johnson, Ga. William Lewis Dayton, N.J., 14, 1 Douglas was nominated on the second bal- John McLean, Ohio, 12, 5 lot. Candidates for nomination and the votes Jacob Colamer, Vt., 10, 0 they received on the first and second ballots: Benjamin Franklin Wade, Ohio, 3, 0 1 1 Stephen Arnold Douglas, Ill., 173 /2, 181 /2 John Charles Frémont, Calif., 1, 0 James Guthrie, Ky., 9, 51/ John M. Read, Pa., 1, 0 2 1 Charles Sumner, Mass., 1, 0 John Cabell Breckinridge, KY., 5, 7 /2 Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ky., 0, 1 Horatio Seymour, N.Y., 1, 0 Total number of votes: 465 Thomas Stanhope Bocock, Va., 1, 0 Number necessary for nomination: 233 1 Daniel Stevens Dickinson, N.Y., /2, 0 Democratic Party (8th Convention) 1 Henry Alexander Wise, Va., /2, 0 April 23–28, 30, and May 1–3, 1860, the Hall Total number of votes: of the South Carolina Institute, Charleston, 1 S.C. First ballot: 190 /2 1 P: No nomination made Second ballot: 194 /2 VP: No nomination made Nomination made unanimous Candidates for nomination and the votes National Democratic Party they received on the first and fifty-seventh (Independent Democratic Party) ballots: June 23, 1860, Maryland Institute Hall, 1 1 Stephen Arnold Douglas, Ill., 145 /2, 151 /2 Baltimore, Md. Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Va., 42, 16 P: John Cabell Breckinridge, Ky. 1 James Guthrie, Ky., 35, 65 /2 VP: Joseph Lane, Ore.

5 Facts About the Presidents

Breckinridge was nominated on the first First ballot: 254 ballot. Candidates for nomination and the Second ballot: 253 votes they received: Number necessary for nomination: 138 John Cabell Breckinridge, Ky., 81 This party tried to ignore the slavery ques- Daniel Stevens Dickinson, N.Y., 24 tion. It favored “the constitution of the coun- Total number of votes: 105 try, the union of the states and the Nomination made unanimous enforcement of the laws.” This segment seceded from the Democratic Party and pledged the new party to a Pacific 1860 Popular Vote railroad, the acquisition of Cuba, the enforce- Republican Party, 1,866,452 ment of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Democratic Party (Northern Democrats), admission of territories as states when their 1,375,157 populations were adequate, with or without Democratic Party (Southern Democrats), slavery as their constitutions provided. 847,953 Southern Democratic Party (Southern Constitutional Union Party, 590,631 or Breckinridge Democrats) June 28, 1860, Market Hall, Baltimore, Md. 1860 Electoral Vote P: John Cabell Breckinridge, Ky. There were 303 electoral votes from 33 VP: Joseph Lane, Ore. states. This party declared that it was the right Lincoln received 59.41 percent (180 votes—18 and duty of Congress to protect slavery in the states) as follows: Calif. 4; Conn. 6; Ill. 11; territories whenever the owners chose to take Ind. 13; Iowa 4; Me. 8; Mass. 13; Mich. 6; slaves to the territories. Minn. 4; N.H. 5; N.J. 4 (of the 7 votes); N.Y. Constitutional Union Party (formerly 35; Ohio 23; Ore. 3; Pa. 27; R.I. 4; Vt. 5; the American Party) Wis. 5. May 9–10, 1860, Presbyterian Church, Breckinridge received 23.76 percent (72 Baltimore, Md. votes—11 states) as follows: Ala. 9; Ark. 4; P: John Bell, Tenn. Del. 3; Fla. 3; Ga. 10; La. 6; Md. 8; Miss. 7; N.C. 10; S.C. 8; Tex. 4. VP: Edward Everett, Mass. Bell received 12.87 percent (39 votes—3 Bell was nominated on the second ballot. states) as follows: Ky. 12; Tenn. 12; Va. 15. Candidates for nomination and the votes they received on the first and second ballots: Douglas received 3.96 percent (12 votes—1 1 state) as follows: Mo. 9; N.J. 3 (of the 7 John Bell, Tenn., 68 /2, 138 votes). Samuel Houston, Tex., 57, 69 John Jordan Crittenden, Ky., 28, 1 The Election of 1864 Edward Everett, Mass., 25, 91/ 2 November 8, 1864 1 William Alexander Graham, N.C., 24, 18 /2 John McLean, Ohio, 19, 1 Candidates William Cabell Rives, Va., 13, 0 Republican Party (National Union) (3rd 1 1 Convention) John Minor Botts, Va., 9 /2, 5 /2 June 7–8, 1864, Front Street Theatre, William Lewis Sharkey, 7, 81/ 2 Baltimore, Md. William Leftwich Goggin, Va., 3, 2 P: Abraham Lincoln, Ill. Total number of votes: VP: Andrew Johnson, Tenn.

6 Facts About the Presidents

Abraham Lincoln was nominated on the VP: John Cochrane, N.Y. first ballot. Candidates for nomination and A one-term principle was advocated by the votes they received: this faction of the Republican Party. Later, Abraham Lincoln, Ill., 484 the candidates withdrew and supported the Ulysses Simpson Grant, Ill., 22 Republican Party nominations. Total number of votes: 506 Nomination made unanimous 1864 Popular Vote Democratic Party (9th Convention) Republican Party, 2,213,635 August 29–31, 1864, the Amphitheatre, Democratic Party, 1,805,237 Chicago, Ill. P: George Brinton McClellan, N.Y. 1864 Electoral Vote VP: George Hunt Pendleton, Ohio There were 233 electoral votes from 25 George Brinton McClellan was nominated states. on the first ballot. Candidates for nomination Lincoln received 90.99 percent (212 votes—22 and the votes they received: states) as follows: Calif. 5; Conn. 6; Ill. 16; 1 Ind. 13; Iowa 8; Kan. 3; Me. 7; Md. 7; Mass. George Brinton McClellan, N.J., 202 /2 12; Mich. 8; Minn. 4; Mo. 11; Nev. 2; N.H. 5; 1 Thomas Hart Seymour, Conn., 23 /2 N.Y. 33; Ohio 21; Ore. 3; Pa. 26; R.I. 4; Vt. Total number of votes: 226 5; W.Va. 5; Wis. 8. Number necessary for nomination: 151 McClellan received 9.01 percent (21 votes—3 Nomination made unanimous states) as follows: Del. 3; Ky. 11; N.J. 7. Independent Republican Party Eleven Confederate states with 80 votes did not vote: Ala. 8; Ark. 5; Fla. 3; Ga. 9; La. 7; May 31, 1864, Cleveland, Ohio Miss. 7; N.C. 9; S.C. 6; Tenn. 10; Tex. 6; Va. P: John Charles Frémont, Calif. 10. Inaugurations

First Term Lincoln returned to the White House to watch the parade. One of the floats carried 34 March 4, 1861 young girls, each one representing a state in Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated on the union. As the float passed in front of Lin- Monday, March 4, 1861, on the east portico of coln, the girls rushed over to him and he the Capitol. It was the seventh time that kissed all of them. Chief Justice Taney had administered the Lincoln did not attend the inaugural ball, oath of office to a President. which was held in a frame building called, for Outgoing President Buchanan greeted the the occasion, “The White Muslin Palace of incoming President by saying, “If you are as Aladdin.” happy, my dear sir, on entering this house as I am on leaving it and returning home, you Second Term are the happiest man on earth.” Lincoln was the first President whose mil- March 4, 1865 itary escort was really a guard instead of an Lincoln was inaugurated on Saturday, honorary escort. March 4, 1865, on the east portico of the Cap- The intense feeling between the North and itol. The oath was administered by Chief Jus- the South marred the occasion, but a large tice Salmon Portland Chase. The morning military parade seemed to lend assurance to was stormy, but the weather cleared by after- the nervous populace. After the ceremonies, noon.

7 Facts About the Presidents

Lincoln’s second inaugural address, long Andrew Johnson’s inauguration as Vice famed as a masterpiece of rhetoric, contained President took place in the Senate chamber. the moving “with malice toward none, with Johnson was barely recovered from a bout charity for all” phrase that embodied his atti- with typhoid fever, and to give himself tude of forgiveness. strength he had doctored himself with liquor. This was the first inauguration in which He arrived in the chamber with his face Americans of African descent participated. flushed and his balance unsteady. Before tak- African-American civic associations and a ing the oath, he delivered a peculiar battalion of black soldiers formed part of the harangue in which he stressed his lowly ori- Lincoln escort. For security reasons, Lincoln gin. Although this was the most humiliating did not ride in the military procession to the event that had ever occurred at an inaugura- Capitol. Enthusiasm gripped the people, for tion, Johnson was not disgraced. Even his the war was drawing to a close. enemies forgave him, since it was known that At the inaugural ball, held on Monday, he was not a habitual drunkard. March 6, Mrs. Lincoln wore a white silk and lace dress with a headdress, an ensemble that cost more than $2,000. The Vice Presidents

First Term Mar. 4, 1843–Mar. 3, 1847, U.S. House of Representatives (from Maine) Name—Hannibal Hamlin (15th V.P.) 1846, unsuccessful Anti-slavery Democratic Date of birth—Aug. 27, 1809 candidate for U.S. Senate (from Maine) Place of birth—Paris, Me. 1848, Maine House of Representatives Political party—Republican (after 1856) June 8, 1848–Jan. 7, 1857, U.S. Senate (from State represented—Maine Maine) Term of office—Mar. 4, 1861–Mar. 4, 1865 Jan. 8, 1857–Feb. 20, 1857, governor of Age at inauguration—51 years, 189 days Maine Occupation after term—U.S. Senate (from Mar. 4, 1857–Jan. 17, 1861, U.S. Senate Maine), U.S. minister to Spain (from Maine) Date of death—July 4, 1891 Mar. 4, 1861–Mar. 4, 1865, Vice President under Abraham Lincoln Age at death—81 years, 311 days 1864, enlisted as a private in Maine State Place of death—Bangor, Me. Guard for sixty-day period Burial place—Bangor, Me. 1865–1866, collector of the port of Boston; ADDITIONAL DATA ON HAMLIN resigned Mar. 4, 1869–Mar. 3, 1881, U.S. Senate (from 18–, attended local schools and Hebron Acad- Maine) emy; worked on farm until of age 1881–1882, U.S. minister to Spain 18–, served one year as compositor 1882, engaged in agricultural pursuits 1833, admitted to bar; practiced in Hampden, Penobscot County, Me. Second Term 1836–1840, Maine House of Representatives; Name—Andrew Johnson (16th V.P.) served as Speaker 1837, 1839, and 1840 Political party—Democratic (elected Vice 1840, unsuccessful candidate for U.S. House President on Republican ticket) of Representatives State represented—Tennessee

8 Facts About the Presidents

Term of office—Mar. 4, 1865–Apr. 15, 1865 For further biographical information, see Age at inauguration—56 years, 65 days the chapter on Andrew Johnson, 17th Presi- Occupation after term—President of the dent, on page 2. United States Cabinet

First Term March 4, 1861–March 3, 1865

State—Jeremiah Sullivan Black, Pa., contin- administration; Edward Bates, Mo., Mar. 5, ued from preceding administration; William 1861; James Speed, Ky., Dec. 2, 1864; Henry Seward, N.Y., Mar. 5, 1861 entered upon duties Dec. 5, 1864 Treasury—John Adams Dix, N.Y., contin- Postmaster General—Horatio King, Me.; ued from preceding administration; Salmon continued from preceding administration; Portland Chase, Ohio, Mar. 5, 1861; entered Montgomery Blair, D.C., Mar. 5, 1861; upon duties Mar. 7, 1861; George Har- entered upon duties Mar. 9, 1861; William rington, D.C. (assistant secretary), ad Dennison, Ohio, Sept. 24, 1864; entered interim July 1, 1864; William Pitt Fes- upon duties Oct. 1, 1864 senden, Me., July 1, 1864; entered upon Navy—Isaac Toucey, Conn., continued from duties July 5, 1864 preceding administration; Gideon Welles, War—Joseph Holt, Ky., continued from pre- Conn., Mar. 5, 1861; entered upon duties ceding administration; Simon Cameron, Mar. 7, 1861 Pa., Mar. 5, 1861; entered upon duties Mar. Interior—Moses Kelly (chief clerk), ad 11, 1861; Edwin McMasters Stanton, Pa., interim Mar. 4, 1861; Caleb Blood Smith, Jan. 15, 1862; entered upon duties Jan. 20, Ind., Mar. 5, 1861; John Palmer Usher, Ind. 1862 (assistant secretary), ad interim Jan. 1, Attorney General—Edwin McMasters 1863; John Palmer Usher, Ind., Jan. 8, 1863 Stanton, Pa., continued from preceding

Second Term March 4, 1865–April 15, 1865

State—William Henry Seward, N.Y., contin- Attorney General—James Speed, Ky., con- ued from preceding administration tinued from preceding administration Treasury—George Harrington, D.C. (assis- Postmaster General—William Dennison, tant secretary), ad interim Mar. 4, 1865; Ohio, continued from preceding administra- Hugh McCulloch, Ind., Mar. 7, 1865; tion entered upon duties Mar. 9, 1865 Navy—Gideon Welles, Conn., continued from War—Edwin McMasters Stanton, Pa., con- preceding administration tinued from preceding administration Interior—John Palmer Usher, Ind., continued from preceding administration

9 Facts About the Presidents

Congress

Thirty-seventh Congress President pro tempore of the Senate —Solomon Foot, Vt., elected Mar. 4, 1863, March 4, 1861–March 3, 1863 special session; Dec. 18, 1863; Feb. 23, 1864; First session—July 4, 1861–Aug. 6, 1861 Mar. 11, 1864; Apr. 11, 1864; Daniel Clark, (34 days) N.H., elected Apr. 26, 1864; Feb. 9, 1865 Second session—Dec. 2, 1861–July 17, Secretary of the Senate—John Wien For- 1862 (228 days) ney, Pa. Third session—Dec. 1, 1862–Mar. 3, 1863 Speaker of the House—Schuyler Colfax, (93 days) Ind., elected Dec. 7, 1863 Special session of the Senate—Mar. 4, Clerk of the House—Emerson Etheridge, 1861–Mar. 28, 1861 (24 days) Tenn., Edward McPherson, Pa., elected Dec. Vice President—Hannibal Hamlin, Me. 8, 1863 President pro tempore of the Senate— Solomon Foot, Vt., elected Mar. 23, 1861; Thirty-ninth Congress July 18, 1861; Jan. 15, 1862; Mar. 31, 1862; March 4, 1865–March 3, 1867 June 19, 1862; Feb. 18, 1863 First session—Dec. 4, 1865–July 28, 1866 Secretary of the Senate—Asbury Dickens, (237 days) N.C.; John Wien Forney, Pa., elected July 15, 1861; William Hickey (chief clerk), Second session—Dec. 3, 1866–Mar. 3, 1867 appointed Mar. 22, 1861, “to serve during (91 days) the present infirmity of the secretary” Special session of the Senate—Mar. 4, Speaker of the House—Galusha Aaron 1865–Mar. 11, 1865 (8 days) Grow, Pa., elected July 4, 1861 Vice President—Andrew Johnson, Tenn. Clerk of the House—John Wien Forney, (succeeded to the presidency on Apr. 15, Pa., Emerson Etheridge, Tenn., elected July 1865, on the death of Abraham Lincoln) 4, 1861 President pro tempore of the Senate —Lafayette Sabine Foster, Conn., elected Thirty-eighth Congress Mar. 7, 1865, special session, “to serve in the absence of the Vice President”; Ben- March 4, 1863–March 3, 1865 jamin Franklin Wade, Ohio, elected Mar. 2, 1867 First session—Dec. 7, 1863–July 4, 1864 (209 days) Secretary of the Senate—John Wien For- ney, Pa. Second session—Dec. 5, 1864–Mar. 3, 1865 (89 days) Speaker of the House—Schuyler Colfax, Ind., reelected Dec. 4, 1865 Special session of the Senate—Mar. 4, 1863–Mar. 14, 1863 (11 days) Clerk of the House—Edward McPherson, Pa., reelected Dec. 4, 1865 Vice President—Hannibal Hamlin, Me. Appointments To the Supreme Court

Chief Justice Associate Justices Salmon Portland Chase, Ohio, Dec. 6, 1864 Noah Haynes Swayne, Ohio, Jan. 24, 1862 (replaced Roger Brooke Taney) (replaced John McLean) Samuel Freeman Miller, Iowa, July 16, 1862 (replaced Peter Vivian Daniel)

10 Facts About the Presidents

David Davis, Ill., Oct. 17, 1862 (replaced Stephen Johnson Field, Calif., Mar. 10, 1863 John Archibald Campbell) (newly created seat) Important Dates in the Presidency

Feb. 1861, plot to assassinate President-elect Sept. 22, 1862, preliminary Emancipation Lincoln at Baltimore, Md. Proclamation issued (a warning that unless Apr.–June 1861, secession of Virginia, hostilities ceased and the secessionist Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee states soon returned to the Union, the Apr. 12, 1861, first attack in Civil War at slaves would be freed) Fort Sumter, S.C. Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation Apr. 15, 1861, President Lincoln issued call issued for 75,000 volunteers Feb. 25, 1863, national banking system cre- Apr. 19, 1861, riot at Baltimore, Md. ated May 3, 1861, call for 42,034 volunteers for May 1–4, 1863, Battle of Chancellorsville three years June 1863, occupation of Mexico by French June 3, 1861, first battle in Civil War, Phil- troops led to American protests ippi, Va. (now W.Va.) June 19, 1863, West Virginia admitted as the July 21, 1861, First Battle of Bull Run 35th state Aug. 16, 1861, proclamation prohibiting July 1–3, 1863, Battle of Gettysburg intercourse between loyal and seceding July 4, 1863, surrender of Vicksburg states Sept. 19–20, 1863, Battle of Chickamauga Nov. 8, 1861, Trent affair—Confederate Nov. 19, 1863, Lincoln delivered Gettysburg agents Mason and Slidell taken from Brit- Address ish steamer Trent by Union ship Nov. 24–25, 1863, Battle of Chattanooga Mar. 9, 1862, battle between Monitor and May 5–7, 1864, Battle of the Wilderness Merrimac June 19, 1864, U.S. warship Kearsarge sank Mar. 11, 1862, President Lincoln assumed the British-built Confederate ship Ala- command of the Army and the Navy bama, which had preyed upon American Apr. 6–7, 1862, Battle of Shiloh vessels Apr. 16, 1862, slavery abolished in the Dis- Sept. 2, 1864, General Sherman captured trict of Columbia Atlanta May 15, 1862, act to establish Department of Oct. 31, 1864, Nevada admitted as the 36th Agriculture approved state May 20, 1862, Homestead Act approved Nov. 15, 1864, burning of Atlanta; beginning July 2, 1862, Morrill land-grant college act of Sherman’s march to the sea approved Apr. 3, 1865, evacuation of Richmond Aug. 30, 1862, Second Battle of Bull Run Apr. 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surren- Sept. 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam dered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. Additional Data on Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln ——was the only elected President to hold office during a civil war. His authority was ——was the first President born in Kentucky. not recognized in eleven states. ——was the third President to die in office. ——was the fifth President who was a resi- ——was the first President assassinated. dent of a state other than his native state.

11 Facts About the Presidents

——was the first President to obtain a enabling their draught of water to be readily patent. lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging First President Born Outside their cargoes.” Original Thirteen States The Patent Office awarded Lincoln U.S. Patent No. 6,469 on May 22, 1849. This was Abraham Lincoln was the first President the first and only patent obtained by a Presi- born beyond the boundaries of the original dent. It was never put into practical use. thirteen states. He was born near Hodgen- ville, in Hardin County, now Larue County, Ky. “Lincoln’s Lost Speech” The Kansas-Nebraska Bill which became Lincoln Enlisted As a Soldier a law May 30, 1854, provided that the two new territories could determine whether they On April 16, 1832, Governor John Rey- wanted to be free states or slave states. This nolds called the Illinois militia to duty. When act repealed the Missouri Compromise, an the notice reached New Salem on April 19, act of Congress passed in February 1820, 1832, Lincoln gave up his job as a clerk and which had admitted Missouri as a slave state enlisted. On April 21, 1832, he was elected and prohibited the extension of slavery to the captain of his company. remainder of the Louisiana territory north of The call for troops was issued as follows: the 36º 30' line. Your Country Requires Your Services Slavery agitators sacked the town of The Indians have assumed a hostile atti- Lawrence, Kan., on May 21, 1856. Lives were tude and have invaded the State in viola- lost, homes burned, printing presses tion of the treaty of last summer. The British band of Sacs and other hostile destroyed. The slavery question aroused the Indians, headed by Black Hawk, are in nation, and when the Illinois Republican possession of the Rock River country, to Party held its first convention at Blooming- the great terror of the frontier inhabit- ton, Ill. on May 29, 1856, Lincoln was called ants. . . . No citizen ought to remain inac- upon to speak. His denunciation of slavery tive when his country is invaded and the thrilled the newspaper reporters, and they helpless part of the community are in listened instead of taking notes. As no verba- danger. tim account exists, this speech is known as His company was enrolled at Beardstown, “Lincoln’s Lost Speech.” Ill., in state service on April 28 and into federal service on May 9. When mustered out on Lincoln Defeated In Race for Vice May 27, Lincoln reenlisted as a private in Presidential Nomination Captain Elijah Iles’s company. This enlist- ment expired June 16, while Lincoln was at On June 19, 1856, at the first Republican Fort Wilbourn, and he reenlisted in the com- Party convention, held at Philadelphia, Pa., pany under the command of Captain Jacob Abraham Lincoln ran for the vice presiden- M. Early. On July 10, he was mustered out of tial nomination. He received 110 votes (Illi- service at White Water, Wis. nois 33, Indiana 26, California 12, Pennsylvania 11, New Hampshire 8, Massa- Lincoln a Patentee chusetts 7, Michigan 5, New York 3, Ohio 2, Rhode Island 2, and Maine 1). He was On March 10, 1849, Abraham Lincoln of defeated on the first ballot, as William Lewis Springfield, Ill., applied for a patent on “a Dayton of New Jersey received 253 votes. new and improved manner of combining Another candidate for the office of Vice Presi- adjustable buoyant air chambers with a dent was Nathaniel Prentice Banks of Massa- steamboat or other vessel for the purpose of chusetts, who received 46 votes.

12 Facts About the Presidents

Lincoln’s Modesty against him. After a complimentary vote for him, Illinois will likely go for [Edward] Abraham Lincoln, considered one of our Bates.” greatest Presidents, was an extremely mod- est man. In Lincoln’s letter to Thomas J. Pickett, of Rock Island, Ill., dated April 16, Kentucky Ignored Favorite Sons 1859. he wrote: “I do not think myself fit for Kentucky cast its 12 electoral votes in the the Presidency. I certainly am flattered, and election of 1860 for John Bell of Tennessee grateful that some partial friends think of me despite the fact that the two other presiden- in that connection.” tial candidates, Abraham Lincoln and John Cabell Breckinridge, were born in Kentucky. First Convention Building Erected The first building especially constructed to Lincoln’s Beard house a political convention was the Wigwam Abraham Lincoln was the first President on Lake Street, Chicago, Ill., built for the sec- to wear a beard, which he began to grow ond Republican Party convention, which met shortly after his election in 1860. Many of his May 16–18, 1860. The main floor was supporters had suggested that he would look reserved for delegates. A balcony was pro- more dignified with a beard, that it would vided for spectators. The building was soften his somewhat harsh appearance, and equipped with telegraph equipment. The while he was campaigning he received the fol- Wigwam, decorated with flags, flowers, ever- lowing letter: greens, and statuary, accommodated 10,000 Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N.Y. persons. William Boyington was the archi- October 15, 1860 tect. Hon. A B Lincoln Dear Sir Lincoln Supporters Packed the I am a little girl 11 years old, but want you Wigwam should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold The Republican convention of 1860 was to write to such a great man as you are. the first to which the general public was Have you any little girls about as large as admitted. While the supporters of William I am if so give them my love and tell her to Henry Seward of New York were parading write me if you cannot answer this letter. I through the city with a brass band prior to have got four brothers and part of them will the time set for nominating, the followers of vote for you any way and if you will let your Abraham Lincoln of Illinois filled the specta- whiskers grow I will try to get the rest of tors’ seats in the convention hall, leaving only them to vote for you. You would look a great a few places for the thousands of Seward fol- deal better for your face is so thin. All the lowers seeking admission. ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you Lincoln Not Expected To Win Nomination would be President. GRACE BEDELL Reporting the prospects of the various can- Lincoln replied to her letter as follows: didates at the Republican convention of 1860, Private the Washington, D.C., Evening Star of May Springfield, Ill. 16, 1860, said: “Lincoln is urged by the dele- Oct. 19, 1860 gates from Illinois, but his alleged want of Miss Grace Bedell administrative ability is the objection raised Westfield, N.Y. My dear little Miss:

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Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is Attempt Made To Assassinate received. I regret the necessity of saying I Lincoln in 1861 have no daughters. I have three sons, one An attempt to assassinate Lincoln was seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of made in 1861. Lincoln’s inaugural train left age. They, with their mother, constitute my Springfield, Ill., on February 11, 1861, bound whole family. As to the whiskers, having for Washington, D.C., but scheduled to make never worn any, do you not think people several intermediate stops. The conspirators would call it a piece of silly affectation if I planned to kill him at the Calvert Street were to begin it now? Depot, Baltimore, Md. A commotion was to be Your very sincere well-wisher, staged that would engage the attention of the A. LINCOLN police, during which time an assassin would Legend has it that when the train bearing carry out the murder. The plot was discov- Lincoln to the White House stopped at a sta- ered and the crime prevented by Allan Pink- tion near Westfield, Lincoln told the assem- erton, a detective assigned to guard Lincoln. bled crowd about his correspondent. He The President-elect arrived safely in Wash- asked if she was present. When she came for- ington nine days before the inauguration. ward, he picked her up, kissed her, and told the crowd, “She wrote me that she thought I’d Five Former Presidents Alive When look better if I wore whiskers.” Lincoln Was Inaugurated However, some modern historians cast a cold eye on the story of the little girl and Lin- When President Abraham Lincoln took coln’s beard. They think that the President- the oath of office on March 4, 1861, as the six- elect, who was a minority president, and pos- teenth President of the United States, five sibly some of his political advisers calculated former Presidents of the United States were that the beard would predispose the populace alive: Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard to view him as a kind and wise man. Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Bucha- nan. Lincoln’s Adieu To Springfield, Illinois Kentucky Presidents of 1861 On February 11, 1861, from the rear of the Abraham Lincoln, inaugurated President railroad car transporting him to Washington, of the United States on March 4, 1861, was D.C., for his inauguration, President-elect born in Hodgenville, Hardin County, Ky., on Lincoln made a prophetic speech to his fellow February 12, 1809. Springfield townsfolk who had gathered in Jefferson Davis, chosen President of the the morning rain to bid him farewell. His Confederate States of America by the provi- speech as reported is as follows: sional Confederate congress on February 18, 1861, was born in Fairview, Todd County My friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at (formerly Christian County), Ky., on June 3, this parting. To this place, and the kind- 1808. ness of these people, I owe everything. . . . Here my children have Confederate States Adopt been born, and one is buried. I now leave, Constitution not knowing when or whether I may return, with a task before me greater During President Lincoln’s first term, the than that which rested on Washington. first formal attempts at a united secession government were made when the Constitu- tion of the Confederate States of America was

14 Facts About the Presidents adopted by the seceding southern states on tate, and aid, this effort to maintain the March 11, 1861, at Montgomery, Ala. It con- honor, the integrity, and existence, of our tained the following preamble: national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress We, the people of the Confederate States, wrongs already long enough endured. I each State acting in its sovereign and deem it proper to say that the first ser- independent character, in order to form a vice assigned to the forces hereby called permanent federal government, establish forth will probably be to repossess the justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and forts, places, and property which have secure the blessings of liberty to our- been seized from the Union; and in every selves and our posterity—invoking the event the utmost care will be observed, favor and guidance of Almighty God—do consistently with the objects aforesaid, to ordain and establish this Constitution avoid any devastation, any destruction for the Confederate States of America. of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens of any Charles Francis Adams Appointed part of the country; and I hereby com- Ambassador To Great Britain mand the persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire President Lincoln appointed Charles peacefully to their respective abodes, Francis Adams as envoy extraordinary and within twenty days from this date. minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain on Deeming that the present condition of March 20, 1861. Adams was the third mem- public affairs presents an extraordinary ber of his family to receive this coveted occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the appointment. His father, President John power in me vested by the Constitution, Quincy Adams, and his grandfather, Presi- convene both houses of Congress. The dent John Adams, had also served as ambas- Senators and Representatives are, there- sadors to Great Britain. fore, summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o’clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July Lincoln’s First Call for Troops, April next, then and there to consider and 15, 1861 determine such measures as, in their Whereas, the laws of the United States wisdom, the public safety and interest have been for some time past, and now may seem to demand. are, opposed, and the execution thereof In witness whereof, I have hereunto set obstructed, in the States of South Caro- my hand, and caused the seal of the lina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Missis- United States to be affixed. sippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by Done at the City of Washington, this fif- combinations too powerful to be sup- teenth day of April, in the year of our pressed by the ordinary course of judicial Lord, one thousand eight hundred and proceedings, or by the powers vested in sixty-one, of the Independence of the the marshals by law; now, therefore, I, United States the eighty-fifth. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in First Presidential Executive Order me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth the The first presidential executive order to be Militia of the several States of the Union numbered was Order No. 1, signed by Presi- to the aggregate number of 75,000, in dent Lincoln on October 20, 1862. This order order to suppress said combinations, and established a provisional court in Louisiana. to cause the laws to be duly executed. It was not the first executive order issued by The details for this object will be immedi- a President, but the first one in the files of ately communicated to the State authori- the Department of State. ties through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facili-

15 Facts About the Presidents

The Emancipation Proclamation that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith repre- The Emancipation Proclamation, issued sented in the Congress of the United by President Lincoln as a war measure, did States by members chosen thereto at not free all the slaves. The complete abolition elections wherein a majority of the quali- of slavery everywhere in the United States fied voters of such State shall have par- was brought about by the Thirteenth Amend- ticipated, shall, in the absence of strong ment, ratified on December 18, 1865. countervailing testimony, be deemed Lincoln’s preliminary proclamation of Sep- conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebel- tember 22, 1862, declared that slavery was to lion against the United States.” be abolished in those states which should be Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, in rebellion against the government on Janu- President of the United States, by virtue ary 1, 1863. The seceding states controlled by of the power in me vested as Com- the Confederate armies (Alabama, Arkansas, mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Caro- of the United States in time of actual lina, South Carolina, Texas, and parts of Lou- armed rebellion against the authority isiana and Virginia) of course ignored the and government of the United States, warning, and on January 1, 1863, Lincoln and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this issued his Emancipation Proclamation. first day of January, in the year of our The document, which freed the slaves in Lord, one thousand eight hundred and all Confederate territory occupied by Union sixty-three, and in accordance with my troops—it did not affect loyal districts and purpose so to do, publicly proclaim for could not be enforced in Confederate-held the full period of one hundred days from areas—proclaimed the policy of the United the day of first above mentioned order, States on the question of slavery: and designate, as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respec- Whereas, on the twenty-second day of tively are this day in rebellion against September, in the year of our Lord one the United States the following, to wit: thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a Proclamation was issued by the Presi- ARKANSAS, TEXAS, LOUISIANA (except the dent of the United States, containing Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, among other things the following, to wit: Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre “That on the first day of January, in the Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- and Orleans, including the City of New dred and sixty-three, all persons held as Orleans), MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, FLOR- slaves within any State, or designated IDA, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH part of a State, the people whereof shall CAROLINA and VIRGINIA (except the forty- then be in rebellion against the United eight counties designated as West Vir- States, shall be then, thenceforth and ginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, forever free, and the Executive Govern- Accomac, Northhampton, Elizabeth City, ment of the United States, including the York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, military and naval authorities thereof, including the cities of Norfolk and Ports- will recognize and maintain the freedom mouth), and which excepted parts are, of such persons, and will do no act or acts for the present, left precisely as if this to repress such persons, or any of them, Proclamation were not issued. in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare “That the Executive will, on the first day that ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES of January aforesaid, by proclamation, within said designated States and parts designate the States and parts of States, of States ARE, AND HENCEFORWARD if any, in which the people thereof SHALL BE FREE! and that the Executive respectively shall then be in rebellion Government of the United States, includ- against the United States, and the fact

16 Facts About the Presidents

ing the military and naval authorities The first of the national Thanksgiving Day thereof, will recognize and maintain the proclamations was issued by Abraham Lin- freedom of said persons. And I hereby coln in 1863, on October 3, the month and day enjoin upon the people so declared to be of George Washington’s first Thanksgiving free, to abstain from all violence, unless Day proclamation. President Andrew in necessary self-defense, and I recommend to them that in all cases, when Johnson continued the custom, which was fol- allowed, they labor faithfully for reason- lowed by the succeeding Presidents until, able wages. under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, And I further declare and make known Congress fixed the date as the fourth Thurs- that such persons of suitable condition day in November. will be received into the armed service of An extract from Lincoln’s Thanksgiving the United States to garrison forts, posi- Day proclamation of October 3, 1863, follows: tions, stations and other places, and to I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens man vessels of all sorts in said service. in every part of the United States, and And upon this act, sincerely believed to also those who are at sea and those who be an act of justice, warranted by the are sojourning in foreign lands, to set Constitution, upon military necessity, I apart and observe the last Thursday of invoke the considerate judgment of man- November next [November 26] as a day kind and the gracious favor of Almighty of thanksgiving and praise to our benefi- God. cent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set And I recommend to them that, while my name, and caused the seal of the offering up the ascriptions justly due to United States to be affixed. Him for singular deliverances and bless- Done at the City of Washington, this first ings, they do also, with humble penitence day of January, in the year of our Lord for our national perverseness and disobe- one thousand eight hundred and sixty- dience, commend to His tender care all three, and of the Independence of the those who have become widows, orphans, United States the eighty-seventh. mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable ABRAHAM LINCOLN civil strife in which we are unavoidably By the President engaged, and fervently implore the inter- position of the almighty hand to heal the WILLIAM H. SEWARD wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as Secretary of State soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of Lincoln Proclaimed Annual peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union. Thanksgiving Day Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address Thanksgiving Day proclamations had been issued on numerous earlier occasions. Gover- Delivered on November 19, 1863, this nor William Bradford in 1621 proclaimed a immortal address commemorated the battle day for the Massachusetts colonists to offer fought at Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863: thanks to God for their lives, their food, their Fourscore and seven years ago our clothing, etc. During the Revolutionary War, fathers brought forth on this continent a numerous days of thanksgiving were new nation, conceived in liberty, and appointed for prayer and fasting by the Con- dedicated to the proposition that all men tinental Congress. November 26, 1789, was are created equal. set aside by President Washington to thank Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any God for the newly formed government and nation so conceived and so dedicated, can the blessings which accompanied it. Other long endure. We are met on a great bat- Thanksgiving days were set aside to com- tlefield of that war. We have come to ded- memorate special occasions such as the con- icate a portion of that field as a final clusion of a war. resting place for those who here gave

17 Facts About the Presidents

their lives that the nation might live. It Lincoln Watched Civil War Battle is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. On July 12, 1864, Lincoln visited Fort But, in a larger sense we cannot dedi- Stevens, Washington, D.C., which was being cate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot defended by three brigades (6th Corps) of the hallow—this ground. The brave men, liv- Army of the Potomac under Major General ing and dead, who struggled here, have Horatio Gates Wright against an attack led consecrated it far above our poor power by Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early to add or detract. The world will little of the 2nd Corps, Army of the Confederacy. note nor long remember what we say Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes acted as the here, but it can never forget what they President’s guide. Lincoln watched the battle did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work from the parapet of the fort, heedless of the which they who fought here have thus danger. Three additional brigades reinforced far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us the defenders, and the tide of battle changed. to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these Lincoln Won 1864 Soldier Vote honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last In the 1864 election, Lincoln received 77.5 full measure of devotion; that we here percent of the soldier vote, compared with highly resolve that these dead shall not 22.5 percent cast for Major General George have died in vain; that this nation under Brinton McClellan, former general in chief of God, shall have a new birth of freedom; the armies of the United States and com- and the government of the people, by the mander of the Army of the Potomac. The vote people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. was 116,887 for Lincoln and 33,748 for McClellan. Amnesty Proclamations The states that provided for soldier votes were California, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, An amnesty proclamation to citizens of the Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Confederate states was issued by President Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. No Abraham Lincoln on December 8, 1863. He provision was made allowing soldiers to vote issued a similar proclamation on March 26, in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, 1864. Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Jer- President Andrew Johnson issued supple- sey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, or mentary proclamations on May 29, 1865; West Virginia. The votes of Kansas and Min- September 27, 1867; July 4, 1868; and nesota soldiers were not counted as they December 25, 1868. arrived too late. The 1864 election was the first in which Republican Faction Disapproved of the army vote was tabulated. Second Term Although Lincoln was chosen unani- Lincoln’s Letter To Mrs. Bixby mously on the first ballot at the Republican Perhaps the most famous letter in Ameri- convention of 1864, not all the Republicans can literature was Lincoln’s letter to Mrs. had favored his candidacy for a second term. Lydia Bixby of Boston, written at the request A group of Republican dissenters held a con- of Governor Andrew of Massachusetts. The vention at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 31, 1864, letter, dated November 21, 1864, was sent to and nominated John Charles Frémont for the Adjutant General Schouler, who delivered it presidency and John Cochrane of New York on November 25 to Mrs. Bixby. It reads: for the vice presidency. Both nominees withdrew on September 21, 1864, urging the reelection of Abraham Lincoln.

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I have been shown in the files of the War This amendment was the first of the three Department a statement of the Adjutant Civil War amendments. General that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of bat- Lincoln Met Confederate tle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any Commissioners word of mine which should attempt to beguile The conference of February 3, 1865, you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. between President Lincoln and the Confeder- But I cannot refrain from tendering you the ate peace commissioners—Alexander Hamil- consolation that may be found in the thanks ton Stephens, Vice President of the of the republic they died to save. I pray that Confederate States; Robert Mercer Taliaferro our Heavenly Father may assuage the Hunter, Confederate States senator; and anguish of your bereavement, and leave you John Archibald Campbell, assistant secretary only the cherished memory of the loved and of war of the Confederate States—was held at lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours Hampton Roads, Va., aboard the River to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the Queen, a steamer of 536 tons, hired by the altar of freedom. Quartermaster General of the War Depart- Yours very sincerely and respectfully, ment from George N. Power at $24 per day. A A. LINCOLN second conference was held on March 23, The reports upon which Lincoln based his 1865, aboard the same steamer. consoling letter were inaccurate. Charles N. Bixby was killed at the second battle of Fred- Lincoln Assassinated ericksburg, May 3, 1863. Henry Cromwell Bixby, first reported missing and later as The first assassination of a President was killed, was captured and honorably dis- the murder of Lincoln on Good Friday, April charged on December 19, 1864. Edward 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Bixby deserted from Company C, 1st Massa- Southern sympathizer. President Lincoln chusetts Heavy Artillery, and went to sea to drove to Ford’s Theatre on Tenth Street, escape the penalty of desertion. Oliver Crom- between E and F streets, Washington, D.C., well Bixby was killed in action in the Crater with Mrs. Lincoln, Major Henry Reed Rath- fight before Petersburg, Va., on July 30, 1864. bone, and Clara Harris, Rathbone’s fiancée. George Way Bixby was captured on July 30, They were viewing a performance of Our 1864, and deserted to the enemy at Salisbury, American Cousin, a three-act comedy by Tom N.C. Taylor starring Laura Keene, when at about 10:30 P.M. Booth fired the fatal shot. Lincoln Thirteenth Amendment Enacted was carried across the street to William Petersen’s boarding house at 453 Tenth The Thirteenth Amendment to the Consti- Street, and put in the room of William Clark, tution, prohibiting slavery, was passed by a boarder. He died at 21 minutes 55 seconds Congress on January 31, 1865. It was pro- past 7 A.M. on April 15, 1865. posed to the legislatures of the several states Booth, who fled after the crime, was shot by the 38th Congress on February 1, 1865. It April 26, 1865, in a barn by Sergeant Boston was rejected by Delaware and Kentucky and Corbett. was conditionally ratified by Alabama and Mississippi. Texas took no action. The Funeral Procession and Interment twenty-seventh state to ratify, making it effective, was Georgia, on December 6, 1865. Abraham Lincoln was the first President The amendment was declared ratified by the to lie in state at the United States Capitol Secretary of State on December 18, 1865. rotunda. His body was taken first to the White House, where it remained from April 15 to April 18, after which it was removed to

19 Facts About the Presidents the Capitol rotunda, where it was displayed them. Instead he notified the Secret Service, from April 19 to April 20. On April 21, it was worked with the conspirators, and gave the taken to the railroad station, whence it was signal that enabled the Secret Service to conveyed to Springfield, Ill. make the arrests. As there was no penalty at The funeral procession took 12 days, stops that time for such an offense, they were along the route being made at Baltimore, charged with breaking the lock and sen- Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, tenced to serve a year in the penitentiary. Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Cleveland, Colum- The next legislature enacted a law which bus, Indianapolis, and Chicago so that people made body-stealing punishable by imprison- could pay their respects, before the train ment for from one to ten years. arrived at Springfield, Ill. Lincoln was buried on May 4, 1865, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Lincoln’s Son at The Scene of Three Springfield. Assassinations Lincoln was moved 17 times from the Robert Todd Lincoln, Lincoln’s oldest son, night of April 14, 1865, when he was carried who was in Washington, D.C., the night his from Ford’s Theatre to the Petersen house father was shot at Ford’s Theatre, was sum- across the street, until his body was finally moned to the house across the street to which laid to rest in a solid block of concrete in Lin- the wounded President was carried. coln tomb at Springfield in 1901. On July 2, 1881, Lincoln, then secretary of war in President Garfield’s cabinet, went to Thieves Tried To Steal Lincoln’s the railroad station at Washington to tell the Body President that pressure of business pre- On November 7, 1876, a gang of thieves vented him from accompanying the President and counterfeiters broke into Lincoln’s tomb to Elberon, N.J. When Lincoln arrived at the at Springfield, Ill., tore open the sarcophagus station, Garfield had just been shot by and partially pulled out the Lincoln casket. Charles J. Guiteau. They intended to cart the casket by wagon, Twenty years later, Lincoln received an bury it in the sand dunes of Indiana, and invitation from President William McKinley demand $200,000 for its return. They to meet him on September 6, 1901, at the Pan intended also to demand the freedom of Ben- American Exposition at Buffalo, N.Y. When jamin Boyd, an engraver of counterfeit plates, Lincoln arrived there, he saw a group gath- who was confined in the penitentiary at ered about the President, who had just been Joliet, Ill. A Pinkerton detective to whom mortally wounded by Leon Czolgosz. they had confided their plans agreed to help Further Reading

Basler, Roy P. The Lincoln Legend. 1935. Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln. 2 ———. Abraham Lincoln, His Speeches and vols. 1950. Writings. 1946. Paludan, Phillip S. The Presidency of Abra- Catton, Bruce. Two Roads to Sumter. 1963. ham Lincoln. 1994. Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. 1995. Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The Prai- Hay, John. Lincoln and the Civil War in the rie Years. 2 vols., 1926. Diaries and Letters of John Hay. Rev. ed. ———. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. 2 1939. vols., 1939.

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Index

Adams, John 15 Hamlin, Hannibal, Vice President 8 Adams, John Quincy 15 Amnesty proclamations 18 Johnson, Andrew 8 Assassinations of presidents 19 attempted 14 Lincoln, Abraham 2–20

Bixby, Lydia 18 Military service of presidents 12

Civil War Patents awarded to presidents 12 Lincoln watches battle during 18 Presidents assassinations and attempted assassina- Lincoln’s first call for troops 15 tions 14, 19 Confederate states first executive order 15 adopt Constitution 14 Constitutional amendments military service of 12 13th Amendment 19 Thanksgiving Day proclamations 17 Tyler, John 14 Deaths of presidents assassinations 19 Van Buren, Martin 14 Emancipation Proclamation 16–17 Washington, George 14, 17 Wigwam 13 Gettysburg Address 17–18