5fish
Captain
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2007
- Location
- Central Florida
I found where Lincoln gave Grant a pep talk over the telegraph...
In the late summer of 1864, as the Union advance on Richmond stalled and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant came under mounting criticism, Lincoln read a fretful telegram from Grant to the Army chief of staff. Reading between the lines, the president understood his general’s spirits and immediately used the telegraph to address the issue: “I have seen your despatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew and choke, as much as possible.” It was as good as walking into the general’s headquarters, sizing up the situation and responding through conversation. The message was even conversational in tone, as though Lincoln had been standing next to Grant, yet it was unmistakable as to its author’s intent.
As he put down the message, Grant laughed out loud and exclaimed to those around him, “The president has more nerve than any of his advisers.” He was correct, of course, but more important than the message was the medium: he held in his hands Lincoln’s revolutionary tool for making sure that neither distance nor intermediaries diffused his leadership.
The Link: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/the-first-wired-president/
In the late summer of 1864, as the Union advance on Richmond stalled and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant came under mounting criticism, Lincoln read a fretful telegram from Grant to the Army chief of staff. Reading between the lines, the president understood his general’s spirits and immediately used the telegraph to address the issue: “I have seen your despatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew and choke, as much as possible.” It was as good as walking into the general’s headquarters, sizing up the situation and responding through conversation. The message was even conversational in tone, as though Lincoln had been standing next to Grant, yet it was unmistakable as to its author’s intent.
As he put down the message, Grant laughed out loud and exclaimed to those around him, “The president has more nerve than any of his advisers.” He was correct, of course, but more important than the message was the medium: he held in his hands Lincoln’s revolutionary tool for making sure that neither distance nor intermediaries diffused his leadership.
The Link: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/the-first-wired-president/