| Notes: First edition. No jacket. Spine faded and foxed, front board rubbed, page ridges foxed. 1931 Hard Cover. xviii, 366 pp. 8 photographic portrait plates. Maroon boards with gilt title on spine and front board. President Lincoln carefully selected his department secretaries to bring diverse skills and perspectives into his cabinet. He recognized that cabinet appointments offered a valuable opportunity to build coalitions and strengthen tenuous bonds between factions remaining in the Union. First, Lincoln selected former Republican Party rivals for three of the most important cabinet positions: Senator William H. Seward of New York became the secretary of state, Governor Salmon P. Chase of Ohio became secretary of treasury, and Missouri’s elder statesman Edward Bates became the attorney general. These appointments also extended representation to crucial states from the northeast, old northwest, and border states. Next, Lincoln appointed former Democrats to build bipartisan support: Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. All six were more educated, better known, and had more government experience than Lincoln himself. They also brought gravitas to the new administration. While they initially resented Lincoln for his success, they grew to respect his political savvy. Bates even admitted that the president was “very near being a perfect man.” - White House History. CONTENTS: Foreword: Of Them He Chose Seven; A Nation Adrift; Simon Cameron: Lincoln and the Pennsylvania Boss; Caleb Blood Smith: Lincoln and the First Bargain; Edward Bates: Lincoln and His First Choice; William Henry Seward: Lincoln and His Prime Minister; Gideon Welles: Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea; Salmon P. Chase: Lincoln and the Man Who Wanted His Place; Montgomery Blair: Lincoln and His Peace Offering; Edwin M. Stanton: Lincoln and the Organizer of Victory; Index. |