Civil War History - Secession and PoliticsWas it Slavery, or was it States Rights? Perhaps it was the election of Lincoln? What were the real reasons for Southern Secession and what were the political issues in this time of war? Find your answers here in the Secession and Politics Disussion.
From Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, Chapter LXX
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It may not be out of place to again allude to President Lincoln and the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, who were the great conspicuous figures in the executive branch of the government. There is no great difference of opinion now, in the public mind, as to the characteristics of the President. With Mr. Stanton the case is different. They were the very opposite of each other in almost every particular, except that each possessed great ability. Mr. Lincoln gained influence over men by making them feel that it was a pleasure to serve him. He preferred yielding his own wish to gratify others, rather than to insist upon having his own way. It distressed him to disappoint others. In matters of public duty, however, he had what he wished, but in the least offensive way. Mr. Stanton never questioned his own authority to command, unless resisted. He cared nothing for the feeling of others. In fact it seemed to be pleasanter to him to disappoint than to gratify. He felt no hesitation in assuming the functions of the executive, or in acting without advising with him. If his act was not sustained, he would change it—if he saw the matter would be followed up until he did so.
It was generally supposed that these two officials formed the complement of each other. The Secretary was required to prevent the President’s being imposed upon. The President was required in the more responsible place of seeing that injustice was not done to others. I do not know that this view of these two men is still entertained by the majority of the people. It is not a correct view, however, in my estimation. Mr. Lincoln did not require a guardian to aid him in the fulfilment of a public trust.
Mr. Lincoln was not timid, and he was willing to trust his generals in making and executing their plans. The Secretary was very timid, and it was impossible for him to avoid interfering with the armies covering the capital when it was sought to defend it by an offensive movement against the army guarding the Confederate capital. He could see our weakness, but he could not see that the enemy was in danger. The enemy would not have been in danger if Mr. Stanton had been in the field. These characteristics of the two officials were clearly shown shortly after Early came so near getting into the capital.
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Any comments?
Tim
__________________ "Let us, then, consider all attempts to weaken this Union, by maintaining that each state is separately and individually independent, as a species of political heresy, which can never benefit us, but may bring on us the most serious distresses."
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, 1740-1824, Revolutionary War soldier, one of the authors of the US Constitution in 1787, speaking at the South Carolina Ratifying Convention in 1788.
From Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, Chapter LXVII
Reflecting upon a different act of Stanton after the fall of Richmond:
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This was characteristic of Mr. Stanton. He was a man who never questioned his own authority, and who always did in war time what he wanted to do. He was an able constitutional lawyer and jurist; but the Constitution was not an impediment to him while the war lasted. In this latter particular I entirely agree with the view he evidently held. The Constitution was not framed with a view to any such rebellion as that of 1861–5. While it did not authorize rebellion it made no provision against it. Yet the right to resist or suppress rebellion is as inherent as the right of self-defence, and as natural as the right of an individual to preserve his life when in jeopardy. The Constitution was therefore in abeyance for the time being, so far as it in any way affected the progress and termination of the war. Those in rebellion against the government of the United States were not restricted by constitutional provisions, or any other, except the acts of their Congress, which was loyal and devoted to the cause for which the South was then fighting. It would be a hard case when one-third of a nation, united in rebellion against the national authority, is entirely untrammeled, that the other two-thirds, in their efforts to maintain the Union intact, should be restrained by a Constitution prepared by our ancestors for the express purpose of insuring the permanency of the confederation of the States.
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Any comments?
Tim
__________________ "Let us, then, consider all attempts to weaken this Union, by maintaining that each state is separately and individually independent, as a species of political heresy, which can never benefit us, but may bring on us the most serious distresses."
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, 1740-1824, Revolutionary War soldier, one of the authors of the US Constitution in 1787, speaking at the South Carolina Ratifying Convention in 1788.
I agree with Grant on his comments about Stanton. Stanton was a man of tremendous ability in a crucial job. But Grant is right, he was "timid." His actions during the CSS Virginia crisis, and 2nd Bull Run show a man who quickly began to lose it in a tight spot. His energy and ability compensated for this and overall he was a very effective secretary of war.
I disagree with Grant on the Constitution during the Civil War, and I believe Lincoln would as well. There were several actions by the executive branch, Seward, Stanton and Lincoln that were unconstitutional, or at least stretched the Constitution. But Lincoln was aware of this, and did so reluctantly. The idea that the Constitution is simply suspended during a crisis is a dangerous one.
I tend to agree with Grant's estimation of the Constitution. It has usually been the case throughout the American experience, that in times of crises', especially, American Presidents have had their way with the Constitution, and got from it what they really wanted, whether explicit in the Constitution or not, or even, sometimes, found to be unconstittional in safer quieter times.
Mr. Stanton never questioned his own authority to command, unless resisted. He cared nothing for the feeling of others. In fact it seemed to be pleasanter to him to disappoint than to gratify. He felt no hesitation in assuming the functions of the executive, or in acting without advising with him. If his act was not sustained, he would change it—if he saw the matter would be followed up until he did so.
Throughout most of the books I've read, Stanton seems to be the thorn in everybody's side, yet the night Lincoln was shot, Stanton sat at his bedside, and when the President breathed his last, it was he who said, "Now he belongs to the ages," and then, as I recall, broke down in inconsolable weeping.
By the way, Trice, thank you for posting these portions of Grant's autobiography. The book sits on my shelves, and it's been several years since I've read it, and I keep thinking I should do that again, and eventually will, but with so many unread books....Grant keeps getting pushed back. I've enjoyed reading these little pieces of my favorite general's book.
__________________ "In leaving this unpretentious record, therefore, I seek to do simply what I would have had my fathers do for me.
KINSMEN OF THE COMING CENTURIES, I BID YOU HAIL AND GODSPEED!"
[From his Introduction to "Memoirs of a Volunteer," by John Beatty - published in 1879
I think Grant saw Stanton as a contradiction, the sort of man who always wanted to be in charge, always wanted to tell other people how to do their jobs, always thought they knew best -- and who tended to fly off the handle when the time came. He seems to see Stanton as an effective part of the team -- but not the man to run the team.
Tim
__________________ "Let us, then, consider all attempts to weaken this Union, by maintaining that each state is separately and individually independent, as a species of political heresy, which can never benefit us, but may bring on us the most serious distresses."
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, 1740-1824, Revolutionary War soldier, one of the authors of the US Constitution in 1787, speaking at the South Carolina Ratifying Convention in 1788.
In the book April 1965 it is revealed that what Stanton actually said at Lincoln's beside is "Now he belongs to the angels" but, later, decided this didn't sound quite right so changed the "official" version to say that he said "Now he belongs to the ages."
Stanton was indeed an interesting character but a very hard working and dilligent secretary of war.
__________________ "There must be more historians of the Civil War than there were generals figthing in it... Of the two groups, the historians are the more belligerent." David Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered (1961)
Now I know that I have to read "Team of Rivals." Awesome post, Tim.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
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Grant on Lincoln and Stanton 
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