history, much of the President's time
was consumed by these political vampires who would not be put off, even
though a revolution was in progress and nations, perhaps, were dying
and being born. "The scramble for office," wrote Stanton, "is
terrible." Seward noted privately: "Solicitants for office besiege the
President.... My duties call me to the White House two or three times a
day. The grounds, halls, stairways, closets, are filled with applicants
who render ingress and egress difficult."

Secretary Welles has etched the Washington of that time in his coldly
scornful way:

"A strange state of things existed at that time in Washington.
The atmosphere was thick with treason. Party spirit and old party
differences prevailed, however, amidst these accumulated dangers.
Secession was considered by most persons as a political party question,
not as rebellion. Democrats to a large extent sympathized with the
Rebels more than with the Administration, which they opposed, not that
they wished Secession to be successful and the Union divided, but they
hoped that President Lincoln and the Republicans would, overwhelmed by
obstacles and embarrassments, prove failures. The Republicans on the
other hand, were scarcely less partisan and unreasonable. Patriotism was
with them no test, no shield from party malevolence. They demanded
the proscription and exclusion of such Democrats as opposed the Rebel
movement and clung to the Union, with the same vehemence that they
demanded the removal of the worst Rebels who advocated a dissolution of
the Union. Neither party appeared to be apprehensive of, or to realize
the gathering storm."

Seen against such a background, the political and diplomatic frivolity
of the Secretary of State is not so inexplicable as it would otherwise
be. This background, as well as the intrigue of the Secretary, helps
us to understand Lincoln's great task inside his Cabinet. At first the
Cabinet was a group of jealous politicians new to this sort of office,
drawn from different parties, and totally lacking in a cordial sense
of previous action together. None of them, probably, when they first
assembled had any high opinion of their titular head. He was looked upon
as a political makeshift. The best of them had to learn to appreciate
the fact that this strange, ungainly man, sprung from plainest origin,
without formal education, was a great genius. By degrees, however, the
large minds in the Cabinet became his co