Authors: Doris Kearns Goodwin
“strong and conclusive”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. III, p. 321.
“bound by duty…shift his position”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 250.
“exclusive and defiant…negro equality”: Entry for May 19, 1860, in
The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866,
p. 129.
“give such advantages…exercise of power”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. III, pp. 320, 321.
“treasonable”…would only “aggravate the dispute”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in
CW,
IV, pp. 253 n32, 257 n67, 260, 260 n85.
“to the effect…and irrevocable”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 270.
“With
you…
‘or a sword?’”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in ibid., p. 261.
“to meet…cheerful confidence”: WHS to AL, February 24, 1861, quoted in Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. III, p. 321.
“I close…angel of the nation”: WHS revision, in AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in
CW,
IV, pp. 261–62 n99.
“I am loth…angels of our nature”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 271.
Lincoln read the speech…left alone: Randall,
Mary Lincoln,
p. 208.
the morning newspapers…of his house: Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 515.
“I have been…and the free”: L. A. Gobright,
Recollection of Men and Things at Washington, During the Third of a Century
(Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1869), p. 291.
“Disappointment!…little Illinois lawyer!”: Schurz,
Reminiscences,
Vol. II, pp. 221–22.
As the clock…“Hail to the Chief”: Stanley Kimmel,
Mr. Lincoln’s Washington
(New York: Coward-McCann, 1957), p. 23; Browne,
The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 402–03.
cheering crowds…throughout the entire route: Julia Taft Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), pp. 17–18; “The Diary of a Public Man, part III,”
North American Review
129 (October 1879), p. 382.
“A sharp, cracking…in the aggregate”:
Star,
March 4, 1861.
“assume[d] an almost idyllic…large rural village”: Edna M. Colman,
Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip: From Washington to Lincoln
(Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1926), pp. 279–81 (first and third quotes attributed by Colman to foreign observer J. G. Kohl).
platform seating; Baker…introduced the president-elect:
NYT,
March 5, 1861; Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
pp. 45–46.
Douglas reached over…his own lap: “The Diary of a Public Man, part III,”
NAR
(1879), p. 383; Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
p. 46.
outdoor venues of the Western states:
NYT,
March 5, 1861; Leech,
Reveille in Washington,
p. 44.
“no purpose…better angels of our nature”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in
CW,
IV, pp. 263–66, 269, 271.
“The Mansion…dinner prepared”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
p. 46.
“If you are as happy…this country”: James Buchanan, quoted in Sandburg,
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years,
Vol. I, pp. 137–38.
hasty unpacking…dressed for the Inaugural Ball: Randall,
Mary Lincoln,
p. 209.
Inaugural Ball:
NYH,
March 6, 1861;
NYT,
March 6, 1861; Colman,
Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip,
p. 268.
“because of…in its decoration”: Colman,
Seventy-five Years of White House Gossip,
p. 268.
Brightened by…good deal of space:
NYH,
March 6, 1861.
“Dressed all in blue…and pearls”: Leech,
Reveille in Washington,
p. 46.
she danced the quadrille…her exhausted husband:
Star,
March 5, 1861; Leech,
Reveille in Washington,
p. 46.
“What an inappreciable…5th of March”: Entry for March 4, 1861, Fanny Seward diary, Seward Papers.
“seven days and seventeen hours”: Sandburg,
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years,
Vol. I, p. 140.
“grand…in every respect”:
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“convincing…manner”:
New York Evening Post,
reprinted in
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“eminently…under the Constitution”:
Philadelphia Bulletin,
reprinted in
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“the work…its contents”:
Commercial Advertiser,
N.Y., reprinted in
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“wretchedly…unstatesmanlike paper”:
Hartford Times,
reprinted in
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“It is he…Civil War”:
Atlas and Argus,
Albany, N.Y., quoted in
Albany Evening Journal,
March 5, 1861.
“couched in the cool…civil war”:
Richmond Enquirer,
reprinted in
NYTrib,
March 7, 1861.
“might as well…inevitable”:
Herald,
Wilmington, N.C., quoted in
Star,
March 7, 1861.
“won some favorable…slave states”: Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
p. 248.
“without getting…can stand”: WHS to FAS, March 8, 1861, quoted in Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 518.
“been fully justified…my country”: Entry for March 4, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.
Radicals…considered an appeasing tone: T. Harry Williams,
Lincoln and the Radicals
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1941), p. 22.
Frederick Douglass…cruel slaveholders: Frederick Douglass,
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
introduction by Houston A. Baker, Jr. (The Anti-Slavery Office, 1845; New York: Penguin Books, 1986), chapters I–X.
“it was unlawful…rid of thinking!”: Ibid., pp. 78 (first quote), 84 (second and third quotes).
“no more pervasive…in America”: Blight,
Frederick Douglass’ Civil War,
p. 3.
“It has taught…the Presidency”:
Douglass’ Monthly
(December 1860).
“no lawful power…Pierces and Buchanans”:
Douglass’ Monthly
(April 1861).
White House family quarters: William Seale,
The President’s House: A History,
Vol. I (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association/National Geographic Society, 1986) pp. 366, 368, 377, 379–80, illustration 41.
“the grounds…closets”: WHS to home, March 16, 1861, quoted in Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 530.
hundreds of people…securing a job: Seward,
Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat,
p. 147; William O. Stoddard,
Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln’s Secretary,
ed. Michael Burlingame (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), p. 5.
“from Edward…that he was handsome”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
pp. 47, 48.
memorizing railroad timetables…“perfect precision”: John Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,”
Century
41 (November 1890), p. 35.
Tad…“worry of the household”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
pp. 48–49.
A speech impediment: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
p. 8; Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,”
Century
(1890), p. 35.
“a very bad…discipline”:
NYTrib,
July 17, 1871.
The boys harried the staff: Stoddard,
Inside the White House in War Times,
pp. 26–27;
NYTrib,
July 17, 1871; Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
pp. 102–06.
“If there was…a good time”: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
p. 107.
Seward had proposed: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
p. 49.
“For over two hours…at the windows”: JGN to TB, March 10, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.
“well dressed…social courtesy”: Entry for March 8, 1861, reel 76, Charles Francis Adams diary.
“was voted by…ever known here”: JGN to TB, March 10, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.
“This is certainly…she has been here”: MTL to Hannah Shearer, March [28, 1861], in Turner and Turner,
Mary Todd Lincoln,
p. 82.
“light and capricious”…morning schedule: Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,”
Century
(1890), p. 34.
white marble fireplace…a panorama: Browne,
The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 416.
description of the Cabinet Room: Seale,
The President’s House,
Vol. I, pp. 364, 367; Isaac Arnold, quoted in Browne,
The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 416.
“the very first…in his hands”: Entry for July 3, 1861, in Browning,
The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning,
Vol. I, p. 476.
“that their provisions…their relief”: Memorandum, July 3, 1861, quoted in John G. Nicolay,
With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860–1865,
ed. Michael Burlingame (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), p. 47.
“I now see…surrender”: Joseph Holt and Winfield Scott to AL, March 5, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
to “reclaim…yourselves the aggressors”: AL, “First Inaugural Address—First Edition and Revisions,” January 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 254 (first and second quotes); AL, “First Inaugural Address—Final Text,” March 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 271 (third and fourth quotes).
“to eat or sleep”: AL, quoted in Villard,
Memoirs of Henry Villard,
Vol. I, p. 156.
“he had literally…I must see them”: Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,”
Century
(1890), pp. 34, 33.
“has no conception…security now”: Entry for March 10, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.
“owes a higher…office-hunters”:
NYT,
April 4, 1861.
“The President proposes…upon him most”: WHS to home, March 16, 1861, quoted in Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 530.
“long-skirted…around his waist”: Browne,
The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 418.
his large leather Bible…“inaudible music”: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
pp. 32–33.
Lincoln penned a note: AL to Winfield Scott, March 9, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 279.
Scott’s reply…“20,000 volunteers”: Winfield Scott to AL, March 11, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
“was disinclined…to be understood”:
Welles diary,
Vol. I (1960 edn.), p. 6.
“was virtually…irresistible force”: FPB to MB, March 12, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
Fox’s ingenious plan: “Result of G.V. Fox’s Plan for Reinforcing Fort Sumpter; In His Own Writing,” in
Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox,
pp. 38–39; West,
Gideon Welles,
p. 98.
pacing up and down as he spoke: Helen Nicolay, “Lincoln’s Cabinet,”
Abraham Lincoln Quarterly
5 (March 1949), p. 274.
“Assuming it to be…to attempt it?”: AL to WHS, March 15, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 284.
description of the State Department: Charles Lanman,
Bohn’s Hand-Book of Washington
(Washington, D.C.: Casimir Bohn, 1856), p. 35; Robert Mills,
Guide to the National Executive Offices and the Capitol of the United States
(Washington, D.C.: Peter Force Printer, 1841), published work 5007, reel 14,
The Papers of Robert Mills, 1781–1855,
ed. Pamela Scott, Scholarly Resources, microfilm edn.
Frederick…assistant secretary of state: WHS to FAS, March 8, 1861, in Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 518.
Seward reiterated…emphatic negative reply: WHS to AL, March 15, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
“If the attempt…cannot advise it”: SPC to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
“the organization of…its experiment”: SPC to Alphonso Taft, April 28, 1861, reel 15, Chase Papers.
“it seems to me…affirmative answer”: SPC to AL, March 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.