Team of Rivals_ The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin [59]
His campaign was interrupted when he joined the militia to fight against the Sac and Fox Indians in what became known as the Black Hawk War. Mustered out after three months, he returned home shortly before the election. Not surprisingly, when the votes were tallied, the little-known Lincoln had lost the election. Despite his defeat, he took pride that in his own small town of New Salem, where he “made friends everywhere he went,” he had received 277 of the 300 votes cast. This astonishing level of support was attributed to his good nature and the remarkable gift for telling stories that had made him a favorite of the men who gathered each night in the general store to share opinions and gossip. “This was the only time,” Lincoln later asserted, that he “was ever beaten on a direct vote of the people.” Two years later, he ran for the seat a second time. By then he had widened his set of acquaintances beyond New Salem and won easily, capturing the first of four successive terms in the state legislature. Until he joined the new Republican Party, Lincoln would remain a steadfast Whig—as were Seward, Bates, and, for a brief moment, Chase.
Lincoln’s four successful campaigns for the legislature were conducted across a sparsely populated frontier county the size of Rhode Island. Young Lincoln was “always the centre of the circle where ever he was,” wrote Robert Wilson, a political colleague. “His Stories…were fresh and Sparkling. never tinctured with malevolence.” Though his face, in repose, revealed nothing “marked or Striking,” when animated by a story, “Several wrinkles would diverge from the inner corners of his eyes, and extend down and diagonally across his nose, his eyes would Sparkle, all terminating in an unrestrained Laugh in which every one present willing or unwilling were compelled to take part.” This rapid illumination of Lincoln’s features in conversation would be observed by countless others throughout his entire life, drawing many into his orbit.
During the campaigns, candidates journeyed on horseback across “entirely unoccupied” prairies, speaking at country stores and small villages. “The Speaking would begin in the forenoon,” Wilson recalled, “the candidates Speaking alternately until all who could Speak had his turn, generally consuming the whole afternoon.” Nor were the contests limited to speeches on public issues. At Mr. Kyle’s store, west of Springfield, a group of Democrats made a wager. “‘See here Lincoln, if you can throw this Cannon ball further than we Can, We’ll vote for you.’ Lincoln picked up the large Cannon ball—felt it—swung it around—and around and said, ‘Well, boys if thats all I have to do I’ll get your votes.’” He then proceeded to swing the cannonball “four or Six feet further than any one Could throw it.”
When he moved to Springfield in 1837, Lincoln began to attract the circle of friends and admirers who would play a decisive role in his political ascent. While he worked during the day to build his law practice, evenings would find him in the center of Springfield’s young men, gathered around a fire in Speed’s store to read newspapers, gossip, and engage in philosophical debates. “They came there,” Speed recalled, “because they were sure to find Lincoln,” who never failed to entertain with his remarkable stories. “It was a sort of social club,” Speed observed. Whigs and Democrats alike gathered to discuss the events of the day. Among the members of this “club” were three future U.S. senators: Stephen Douglas, who would become Lincoln’s principal rival; Edward Baker, who would introduce him at his first inaugural and become one of the first casualties of the Civil War; and Orville Browning, who would assist his fight for the presidential nomination.
Throughout his eight years in the state legislature, Lincoln proved an extraordinarily shrewd grassroots politician, working to enlist voter support in the precincts for his party’s candidates. While Seward could concentrate on giving voice to the party platform, relying on Weed to build poll lists and carry voters to the polls, Lincoln