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No editor has a more profound knowledge of Abraham Lincoln. No editor could have given me better advice from start to finish on structure, tone, and language. She is the absolute best in her profession. I shall be forever grateful to her.

Finally, I owe more than I can ever express to my husband, Richard Goodwin, to whom this book is dedicated. He read and edited every single page, from the earliest drafts to the finished product. His passion for the subject of Abraham Lincoln matches my own. I argued with him, debated with him, and ended up usually following his advice. He has thought as deeply about Lincoln as anyone. This book is his creation as much as mine.

Concord, Massachusetts

July 2005

NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES:

AL

Abraham Lincoln

CS

Charles Sumner

EB

Edward Bates

EBL

Elizabeth Blair Lee

EMS

Edwin M. Stanton

FAS

Frances A. (Miller) Seward

FB

Francis Preston (“Frank”) Blair, Jr.

FPB

Francis Preston Blair, Sr.

FS

Frances A. (“Fanny”) Seward

FWS

Frederick W. Seward

GBM

George B. McClellan

GW

Gideon Welles

JGN

John G. Nicolay

JH

John Hay

JWW

Jesse W. Weik

KCS

Kate Chase Sprague

LW

Lazette M. (Miller) Worden

MB

Montgomery Blair

MEM

Mary Ellen McClellan

MTL

Mary Todd Lincoln

SPC

Salmon P. Chase

SPL

Samuel Phillips Lee

TB

Therena Bates

TW

Thurlow Weed

USG

Ulysses S. Grant

WHH

William H. Herndon

WHS

William H. Seward

CW

Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

HI

Herndon’s Informants NR National Republican, Washington, D.C.

NYH

New York Herald, New York, N.Y.

NYT

New York Times, New York, N.Y.

NYTrib

New York Tribune, New York, N.Y.

OR

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (128 vols., Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901)

Star

Evening Star, Washington, D.C.

Chase Papers

The Salmon P. Chase Papers: Microfilm Edition, ed. John Niven (Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1987)

Lincoln Papers

Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Available at Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C.: American Memory Project, [2000–01]), http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html

Nicolay Papers

Papers of John G. Nicolay, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Seward Papers

The Papers of William H. Seward (Woodbridge, Conn.: Research Publications, 1983

Welles Papers

Papers of Gideon Welles, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

NOTE TO READERS: When quoting from primary documents, original spelling and grammar have been kept.

INTRODUCTION

“there is little…of Abraham Lincoln”: Frederick Douglass, “Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln,” April 14, 1876, in Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings, ed. Philip S. Foner, abridged by Yuval Taylor (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1999), pp. 620–21.

“comparatively unknown…such anxious times”: Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Abraham Lincoln,” in Miscellanies (Cambridge, Mass.: Riverside Press, 1904), pp. 330–31.

“very near…perfect man”: EB, quoted in F. B. Carpenter, Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1866), p. 68.

“field of glory”: AL, “Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois,” January 27, 1838, in CW, I, p. 113.

“a new birth of freedom”: AL, “Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863; Edward Everett Copy,” in CW, VII, p. 21.

CHAPTER 1: FOUR MEN WAITING

Lincoln was up early: Henry B. Rankin, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1916), p. 187.

Chenery House: Paul M. Angle, “Here I Have Lived”: A History of Lincoln’s Springfield, 1821–1865 (Springfield, Ill.: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1935), p. 175.

Springfield businesses: See advertisements in Illinois State Journal, Springfield, Ill., May 18, 1860.

first ballot was not due to be called until 10 a.m.: Press and Tribune, Chicago,