GDG- I cannot sleep before I thank you

Wed Dec 6 10:57:18 CST 2006

Poor old Roger Taney must have been screaming from his grave! From his
perspective, no more horrible choice could have come from Lincoln! The
Attorney General for the Runaways now sat in the seat of the man who wrote
that African-Americans had no rights!

Take care,

Bob

Judy and Bob Huddleston
10643 Sperry Street
Northglenn, CO  80234-3612
303.451.6376  Huddleston.r at comcast.net

...the greatest and the noblest man of the last century was Abraham
Lincoln.Though America was his motherland and he was an American, he
regarded the whole world as his native land.

					Mahatma Gandhi, August 26, 1905

-----Original Message-----
From: gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com [mailto:gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com]
On Behalf Of Dennis Lawrence
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 8:35 AM
To: gettysburg at gdg.org
Subject: GDG- I cannot sleep before I thank you

Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:

To the Senate [1]
Executive Mansion Washington, D.C.
To the Senate of the United States Dec. 6. 1864

I nominate Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States vice Roger B. Taney, deceased.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Annotation

[1]   ALS-P, ISLA. On the bottom of Lincoln's letter appears the following 
endorsement:

``United States Senate

``In Executive Session

``Decr. 6. 1864.

``Read; considered by unanimous consent, and nomination unanimously
confirmed.

``Attest: D.W.C. CLARKE

``Principal Executive Clerk.''

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Chase wrote Lincoln on the same day: ``On reaching home tonight I was
saluted ith the intelligence that you this day nominated me to the Senate
for the office of Chief Justice. I cannot sleep before I thank [you] for
this mark of your confidence, & especially for the manner in which the
nomination was made. I shall never forget either and trust that you will
never regret either Be assured that I prize your confidence & goodwill more
than nomination or office'' (DLC-RTL).

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>From  
>http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=7&subjectID=7

Journalist Noah Brooks recalled visiting President Lincoln after Chief
Justice Roger B. Taney had died: "The President, who was in a happy frame of
mind, jocularly asked, 'What are people talking about now?' His caller
replied that they were discussing the probability of Chase's being appointed
Chief-Justice. The smile on the President's face faded, and he said with
gravity and sadness: 'My friends all over the country are trying to put up
the bars between me and Governor Chase. I have a vast number of messages and
letters, from men who think they are my friends, imploring and warning me
not to appoint him.' He paused for a moment, and then, pointing to a pile of
telegrams and letters on the table, said: 'Now, I know meaner things about
Governor Chase than any of those men can tell me; but I am going to nominate
him.' Three days after that the appointment was made."12

Mr. Lincoln's handling of his relationship with Chase said a great deal
about Mr. Lincoln's notions of relationships in general and friendships in
particular. Although he valued friendship, he did not place friendship above
the needs of the "public service." What Chase said and what he did were two
different sets of facts which needed to be evaluated separately. 
He did not blindly nominate Chase without evaluating alternatives, nor did
he blindly reject him. And he did not place others who were more congenial
personally or politically ahead of Chase. Several months before President
Lincoln appointed Chase to the Supreme Court, he told aide John Hay that
"what Chase ought to do is to help his successor through his installation as
he professed himself willing to do in his letter to me: go home without
making any fight and wait for a good thing hereafter; such as a vacancy on
the Supreme Bench or some such matter."13

Congressman Alley visited the President at the White House one morning in
December 1864. "As I entered he made to me this declaration: 'I have
something to tell you that will make you happy. I have just sent Mr. Chase
word that he is to be appointed Chief-Justice, and you are the first man I
have told of it." After Alley expressed surprise at the President's
magnanimity, the President replied: "Although I may have appeared to you and
to Mr. Sumner to have been opposed to Chase's appointment, there never has
been a moment since the breath left old Taney's body that I did not conceive
it to be the best thing to do to appoint Mr. Chase to that high office; and
to have done otherwise I should have been recreant to my convictions of duty
to the Republican party and to the country."14

Newly elected Congressman Shelby Cullom was again at the White House when
Chase received the Supreme Court nomination. "I happened to be alone in Mr. 
Nicolay's room in the White House when Mr. Chase called to thank the
President for his nomination. He came into Mr. Nicolay's room first, and
inquired of me if the President was in. I told him I did not know, but his
room was next to the one we were in, and he might ascertain for himself. 
Knowing of Chase's disparaging remarks concerning Mr. Lincoln, and of his
disloyalty as member of his cabinet, I was very curious to hear what he
would have to say to the President. He left the door ajar, and I overheard
the conversation. Mr. Chase proceeded to thank the President for his
nomination. Mr. Lincoln's reply was brief, merely that he hoped Mr. Chase
would get along well and would do his duty. Very few words passed between
them, and the interview closed."15................................ 

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