Part 23
I never met President Johnson but once during his term in the White House. I had met him casually before and during the war, but cherished a strong prejudice against him as an arch demagogue because of a debate between him and Senator Bell, his colleague from Tennessee, that I happened to hear in the Senate. Bell was one of the ablest and most dignified of Senators, and I never witnessed a more offensive exhibition of the studied arts of the demagogue than Johnson displayed in that Senatorial controversy. It was on some phase of the sectional issue, and Bell’s exalted patriotism and manly plea for union and fellowship contrasted with Johnson as the soaring eagle contrasts with the mousing owl. I had voted for his nomination for Vice-President in the Republican convention of 1864, because I surrendered my own preferences to considerations of expediency presented by Lincoln.
When he made the disgraceful exhibition of himself on inauguration day as he appeared as Vice-President in the Senate, I published an editorial in my Chambersburg paper denouncing Johnson as having offended against the dignity and decency not only of our own Government, but of civilized governments throughout the world, and demanded his resignation. Little more than a month thereafter he became President, and a troop of new friends flocked about him. It is needless to say that he was soon advised of the severe criticism I had made upon the inauguration address. I did not see or hear from him or communicate with him in any way until the early fall, when Governor Curtin informed me that he had received a request from the President for Curtin and myself to visit him at Washington. My answer to Curtin was that as he was in an official position it was probably his duty to regard a request from the President as a command, but as I was not anybody of consequence, I would not go. Within a fortnight a second and more pressing request was made to Curtin for us to come to Washington to confer with the President on the political situation. Curtin felt that we should go. He thought it possible that Johnson might yet be saved from political apostasy, although I had no confidence whatever in the future of the administration, judging from the surroundings he had invited, but I accompanied the Governor to Washington and called upon the President.
At that time Johnson had attempted and largely carried out a scheme of reconstruction of his own, that had gradually drifted him into very close and sympathetic relations with the ruling class of the South that had been active in rebellion. He had appointed provisional Governors, Legislatures had been chosen, Congressmen and Senators had been elected to some extent, and I was utterly surprised to find the President entirely confident that his scheme of reconstruction would be sanctioned by Congress. I was well informed by conference with the leading Republicans of the North as to the policy they would pursue in Congress, and I knew that there was not the shadow of a chance for any of his reconstructed States to be readmitted into the Union on the basis of his policy.
Curtin’s more responsible official position and general distrust made him quite willing to avoid discussion with the President, who opened the conversation by an earnest appeal to us to give tranquillity to the country and renewed prosperity to business by accepting his method of reconstruction, that he always spoke of as “my policy.” I answered by stating that it would be simply a waste of time and effort to attempt to maintain his policy, as not a single Senator and Representative then elected to the next Congress, or to be elected thereafter by Southern States as then reconstructed, would be admitted into Congress. He seemed to be utterly amazed at the audacity of such a declaration, and informed me in the most imperious and insolent manner that every State would be restored to the Union and to representation in the coming Congress. I told him that he was suffering from the common misfortune of power in seldom hearing the truth. He exhibited much irritation, and several times walked the full length of the Executive Chamber with rapid step, apparently to get cooling time for his passion. He finally tempered the discussion by more courteous expression, and we went over the whole ground with rugged frankness on both sides, ending in the disagreement on which we had started.
I then asked him what he proposed to do with Jefferson Davis, who was still in prison at Fortress Monroe, charged with complicity in the assassination of Lincoln. I saw that he was much embarrassed by the inquiry, and told him that he owed it to the truth of history, to Davis himself and to public justice to give him a fair trial. I reminded him also that Wurz, who had just been tried by a court-martial for wanton and murderous brutality to the Union prisoners, with the judgment in the case then in the hands of the Government, but not announced, would be condemned and executed, as he was poor and friendless. I said that if Wurz was guilty of studied brutality to prisoners he deserved to die, but that if he was simply executing the policy of the government of the Confederacy, as was then publicly charged, of deliberately and systematically murdering Union prisoners by giving them unwholesome or insufficient food, and withholding the necessary and possible attention to the sick and dying, the responsible criminal was Jefferson Davis. In answer, the President asked how that could be done, to which I responded by saying that a court-martial, consisting of Generals Grant, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan and Meade, could well be charged with so grave an inquiry, as their judgment would be accepted by the country and the world. If they condemned Davis, he deserved to be executed. If they acquitted him, as I believed they would, he would stand acquitted of one of the most colossal crimes ever charged against an individual. To my surprise, the President answered that there was strong prejudice growing up against court-martials. He was quite right in that declaration, as up to that time he had used them freely and almost wholly in the administration of justice in all cases having any connection with the war. He had denounced Davis as an assassin, and in his new relations with the South, which changed his conditions materially, he was anxious to protect Davis, and evidently did not wish his accusations to be passed upon by a competent court.
I then said to the President that it was his duty to discharge Davis; that Davis should either be tried or given his liberty at an early day, as he had already been long in prison, and I reminded him also that he could not try a man for treason who was President of a government that had beleaguered our Capitol for four years, and that had been recognized by our own Government and by the leading governments of the world as a belligerent power. The discussion of the Davis question, that was a very unpleasant one to the President, brought the conference to a finish, and every prediction that I made to him about his reconstruction policy was fulfilled to the letter. Curtin took only an incidental part in the conference, and we parted with ceremonial courtesy, never to meet again.
While the Republicans had been seriously divided by Johnson’s defection, chiefly because of the large patronage he had to dispense, their columns became gradually reunited, and in 1868 it was practically a solid Republican party arrayed against Johnson with a very few deserters; and the Democrats, while appreciating Johnson’s betrayal of the Republicans, had no love and little respect for the betrayer. From the time that Grant’s candidacy was announced no other aspirant was seriously discussed in Republican circles, and his name brought not only most of the later stragglers of the party into the fold, but commanded the support of a large Democratic element in addition.
The Republican National Convention met at Chicago on the 20th of May, and easily finished its work in two days. Carl Schurz was temporary president, and General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, was the permanent president. The usual preliminaries were disposed of without jar during the first day, and the committee on resolutions reported promptly on the morning of the second day. The following is the full text of the platform as adopted by a unanimous vote:
The National Republican party of the United States, assembled in national convention in the city of Chicago, on the 21st day of May, 1868, make the following declaration of principles:
1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in the majority of the States lately in rebellion, of constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty of the Government to sustain those institutions and to prevent the people of such States from being remitted to a state of anarchy.
2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the South was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people of those States.
3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; and the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted.
4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be equalized, and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.
5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preservation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period for redemption; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of interest thereon, whenever it can be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is so to improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay, so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or suspected.
7. The Government of the United States should be administered with the strictest economy; and the corruptions which have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for radical reform.
8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession to the Presidency of Andrew Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him and the cause he was pledged to support; who has usurped high legislative and judicial functions; who has refused to execute the laws; who has used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has employed his executive powers to render insecure the property, the peace, the liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning power; who has denounced the national Legislature as unconstitutional; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every means in his power, every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion; who has perverted the public patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption; and who has been justly impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of thirty-five Senators.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at every hazard by the United States as a relic of feudal times, not authorized by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to protection in all their rights of citizenship, as though they were native born; and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and, if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Government to interfere in his behalf.
10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there were none entitled to more special honor than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise and imperilled their lives in the service of the country; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people—a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation’s protecting care.
11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development, and resources, and increase of power to this Republic—the asylum of the oppressed of all nations—should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
12. This convention declares itself in sympathy with all oppressed peoples struggling for their rights.
13. We highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and forbearance with which men who have served in the Rebellion, but who now frankly and honestly co-operate with us in restoring the peace of the country and reconstructing the Southern State governments upon the basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are received back into the communion of the loyal people; and we favor the removal of the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty will die out, and as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people.
14. We recognize the great principles laid down in the immortal Declaration of Independence as the true foundation of Democratic government; and we hail with gladness every effort toward making these principles a living reality on every inch of American soil.
The convention then proceeded to make nominations, and after an able and impassioned speech by General Logan presenting General Grant’s name, the roll was called and every vote responded in favor of Grant, giving 650 in all. As soon as the vote was announced, a curtain on the rear of the stage was lifted, presenting a heroic picture of Grant, and the convention responded to the nomination and the picture of the Great Captain with deafening cheers.
There was a spirited contest for the Vice-Presidency. Wade, of Ohio, had the lead, and Fenton, of New York, Wilson, of Massachusetts, and Colfax, of Indiana, all started with a very promising vote. I was chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation, and in obedience to the unanimous instructions of the State, presented to the convention the name of Andrew G. Curtin for second place on the ticket. It soon became evident that the contest would be between Wade and Colfax, and when the struggle was thus narrowed Colfax won an easy victory. The following table presents the several ballots for Vice-President:
════════════════════════════════╤══════╤═══════╤══════╤═══════╤═══════ │First.│Second.│Third.│Fourth.│Fifth. ────────────────────────────────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼─────── Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio │ 147 │ 170 │ 178 │ 206 │ 38 Reuben E. Fenton, of New York │ 126 │ 144 │ 139 │ 144 │ 69 Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts │ 119 │ 114 │ 101 │ 87 │ ―― Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana │ 115 │ 145 │ 165 │ 186 │ 541 Andrew G. Curtin, of Penn. │ 51 │ 45 │ 40 │ ―― │ ―― Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine │ 28 │ 30 │ 25 │ 25 │ ―― James Speed, of Kentucky │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― James Harlan, of Iowa │ 16 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― John A. J. Creswell, of Maryland│ 14 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Kansas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― William D. Kelley, of Penn. │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ════════════════════════════════╧══════╧═══════╧══════╧═══════╧═══════
The swift mutations in American politics were strangely illustrated in the nomination for Vice-President at that convention. Senator Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, who was about closing a term of eighteen years in the service of the Senate, who was then President _pro tem._ of that body, and who was expected to reach the Presidency for a period of eight months by the impeachment and dismissal of President Johnson, was the prominent candidate for Vice-President before the meeting of the convention. It was generally believed that Johnson would be successfully impeached; that Wade would become President for the remainder of the term, with illimitable patronage, and that his nomination for the Vice-Presidency was apparently assured. But when many delegates were on their way to Chicago on Saturday, the 16th, the trained lightning sped the message westward that Johnson had been acquitted by a single vote in the Senate, and that ended Wade’s candidacy. He had many friends independent of the prospective power that had made him formidable, and they made a stubborn battle for him, but though he was highest of all on the 1st ballot, on the 5th and final vote he had but 38 votes to 541 for Schuyler Colfax and 69 for Senator Fenton, of New York. Thus two crushing disasters had befallen Wade in a single week. He had the Presidency apparently within his grasp—and this would have carried the Vice-Presidency for another term—but he was smitten in both efforts, and these crowning disasters closely followed his defeat for re-election to the Senate. He was the sturdy, bluff, uncompromising patriot of the Senate during the war, and after these three disasters came upon him in quick succession, the old man groped his way along for a few years in solitude and then slept the dreamless sleep of the dead.
The Democratic National Convention met in New York on the 4th of July, and there was a strong sentiment among the delegates favorable to the nomination of a liberal Republican for President. The Republicans had nominated a Democrat, and Chief Justice Chase, who was an old-time Democrat, and who had won a very large measure of Democratic confidence by his rulings in the impeachment case of President Johnson, was a favorite with a very powerful circle of friends, who had quietly, but very thoroughly, as they believed, organized to have him nominated by a spontaneous tidal wave after a protracted deadlock between the leading candidates. I have every reason to believe that Chase would have been nominated at the time Seymour was chosen, and in like manner, had it not been for the carefully laid plan of Samuel J. Tilden to prevent the success of Chase. Horatio Seymour, the ablest Democrat of that day, was president of the convention, and he had no more idea of being nominated for President than he had of becoming the Czar of Russia. It was generally supposed that Seymour left the chair of the convention because some votes had been cast for him for President, but he really left the chair because he expected to aid in the nomination of Chase, and when Seymour called another to preside, the Tilden strategy completed its purpose by an able Democrat demanding the nomination of Horatio Seymour, and delivering a most eloquent and impressive eulogy upon the confessed leader of the Democracy. In vain did Seymour give a peremptory declination. The convention had been organized for its work, and men in nearly every delegation who had been assigned to their task rose and swelled the hurrah for Seymour. When he found the tide was likely to be overwhelming, he declared with equal earnestness and pathos, “Your candidate I cannot be;” but the wave sped on and Seymour was made the candidate by a practically unanimous vote.
He was prevailed upon to consider the subject, and that meant, of course, that he could not decline. There had been twenty-one ballots before the nomination of Seymour, in which Pendleton, Hancock, and Hendricks were the leading competitors. It was then that the nomination of Chase was expected to be made just as the nomination of Seymour was made, and Tilden’s was the master hand that shaped the action of the convention.
Tilden was a master leader, as subtle and sagacious as he was able, and he thoroughly organized the plan to nominate Seymour, not so much because he desired Seymour as the candidate, as because he was implacable in his hostility to Chase. It was well known by Chase and his friends that Tilden crucified Chase in the Democratic convention of 1868, and this act of Tilden’s had an impressive sequel eight years later, when the election of Tilden hung in the balance in the Senate, and when the accomplished daughter of Chase decided the battle against Tilden.
The convention met on the 4th of July, which was Saturday, and nothing beyond organization was accomplished until Monday. The supporters of Pendleton were altogether the most aggressive of all the candidates. They represented the “Greenback” issue that had then taken form, and exhibited considerable popular strength, not only in the Democratic party, but to some extent in the Republican party. The two-thirds rule was reaffirmed, and on Tuesday the committee on platform reported the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
The Democratic party, in national convention assembled, reposing its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the people, standing upon the Constitution as the foundation and limitation of the powers of the Government and the guarantee of the liberties of the citizen, and recognizing the questions of slavery and secession as having been settled, for all time to come, by the war, or the voluntary action of the Southern States in constitutional conventions assembled, and never to be renewed or reagitated, do, with the return of peace, demand:
1. Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the American people.
2. Amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens.
3. Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly as practicable; all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except so much as is requisite for the necessities of the Government, economically administered, being honestly applied to such payment, and where the obligations of the Government do not expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States.
4. Equal taxation of every species of property according to its real value, including Government bonds and other public securities.
5. One currency for the Government and the people, the laborer and the officeholder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and the bondholder.
6. Economy in the administration of the Government; the reduction of the standing army and navy; the abolition of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro supremacy; simplification of the system, and discontinuance of inquisitorial modes of assessing and collecting internal revenue, so that the burden of taxation may be equalized and lessened; the credit of the Government and the currency made good; the repeal of all enactments for enrolling the State militia into national forces in time of peace; and a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufacturers, and as will, without impairing the revenue, impose the least burden upon and best promote and encourage the great industrial interests of the country.