By STEVEN L. CARSON
The Fifth Annual Symposium of the Abraham Lincoln Institute of the Mid-Atlantic Inc. (ALIMA) met at the Library of Congress on March 16. Nearly 400 people attended the symposium, which was sponsored jointly by the Library's Manuscript and Rare Book and Special Collections divisions. The proceedings were covered by C-SPAN and cybercast on the Library's Web site at www.loc.gov/loc/lincoln.
Chartered in 1997, ALIMA holds annual symposia and quarterly seminars featuring prominent scholars from the region and the nation. Five scholars delivered papers at this year's program, which had as its theme "The Latest in Lincoln Scholarship." They were William Lee Miller, author of "Lincoln's Virtues"; presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Ronald C. White of the San Francisco Theological Seminary; Lincoln assassination expert Edward Steers Jr.; and John R. Sellers, president of ALIMA and historical specialist on the Civil War and Reconstruction in the Library's Manuscript Division. The master of ceremonies was Scott Sandage of Carnegie-Mellon University.
William Lee Miller
In his paper titled "'I Felt It My Duty to Refuse:' A Presidential Pardon Case," William Miller focused on Lincoln's ethics, the theme of his new book. Miller initially noted the president's liberal use of his pardoning power that drove military officers and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to distraction.
The speaker then focused on the case of Nathaniel Gordon, a slave trader convicted by a jury and sentenced to be hanged, who was subsequently denied a pardon by Lincoln. The pressure on Lincoln for clemency was enormous, one appeal even came from the governor of New York, along with the signatures of 11,000 other New Yorkers. Lincoln was an opponent of the slave trade and the extension of slavery into the territories. "I felt it was my duty to refuse," was Lincoln's response, and he stayed the course in the face of many protest rallies. After giving Gordon two more weeks of life "to get his soul in order," Lincoln ordered his execution. In so doing, Lincoln spoke of the "common God of us all," including blacks, which was considered a shocking concept in its time.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Noted presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin spoke about Lincoln's White House, drawing on her forthcoming comparative study of Lincoln and his cabinet. She said that one of the more fascinating aspects of Lincoln's life and career is how he formed a cabinet of his political rivals and organized them into a cohesive unit for Union victory. She compared the public and private lives of Lincoln and three members of his cabinet: Secretary of State William H. Seward, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase (later Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court), and Attorney General Edward Bates.
"Chase was at one end of the spectrum with a harsh and impoverished childhood as well as private life, while Bates had a happy home life with 17 children," said Goodwin. She noted that Chase lost three wives and two children, and as a result, was all-consumed with ambition. His lack of family, with the exception of one surviving daughter, "left him with nothing to fall back upon in times of defeat," she said. By comparison, Bates put his career second to his family. He was a congressman, third party presidential candidate (against Lincoln), and attorney general, but rejected bids for vice president and the post of secretary of state.
Seward, former governor and later a senator from New York, enjoyed inherited wealth and political support. He was the front-runner for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination, an election eventually won by Lincoln. Highly successful as secretary of state and far more secure as a person than Chase, he nevertheless was lonely, having an invalid wife. On the night of Lincoln's assassination, he was seriously injured in the bloody attack. This event marred the remaining eight years of his life, but he still succeeded in purchasing Alaska for the U.S. under Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor.
According to Goodwin, Lincoln had the most miserable and harshest childhood and suffered tremendously from depression. The early years of Lincoln's marriage provided a safe haven for him. "It was the first time he had security and warmth," she remarked. Only economic necessity kept him on the law circuit and away from home for long periods of time. His wife Mary supported his political ambitions, but her high-strung and possessive nature made it hard for her to endure the loneliness. After their son Willie's death, Lincoln suffered "extraordinary woes with Mary," Goodwin said. "He had a structure to fall back upon but Mary did not. She became unmoored, and in some ways a very different person. They took two different paths and Mary spiraled away."
Ronald C. White Jr.
Ronald C. White Jr., spoke on "Lincoln's Sermon on the Mount: The Second Inaugural." According to White, Lincoln considered this, not the Gettysburg Address, to be his greatest speech. He saw it as the beginning of four more years in office, although it turned out to be his "Last Will and Testament." The speech was not popular at the time because Lincoln did not say what his audience wanted to hear. There were no victory cheers for a war-weary people. Instead, he talked of suffering and how the war was God's punishment for the evil of slavery, which he said was at the core of American society. "With all of Lincoln's scriptural allusions, the speech revealed a more profound theological thinking," observed White.
At 703 words, it was the shortest inaugural address since George Washington's. "The New York Times" said "he made no boasts, only submission to the Constitution." According to White, "Lincoln's strategy was to emphasize common concerns and convictions. He was trying to pull the nation together in problems of causality and victory. … His first two paragraphs were like a Shakespearean act. … He was the soldiers' president and absorbed their pain into his person. … He looked older than his 56 years – and got 75 percent of their vote."
Edward Steers Jr.
In his new book titled "Blood on the Moon," Edward Steers Jr. reveals his findings on the Lincoln assassination. Central to his thesis is the belief that Dr. Samuel A. Mudd–who treated accused assassin John Wilkes Booth–was a key player in the assassination. He cited what he believes to be an authentic paper trail to support his theory that Dr. Mudd was not an innocent victim who just happened to treat a stranger. He believes that Dr. Mudd knew Booth and was aware that Booth had assassinated Lincoln.
Steers noted that the myths surrounding Lincoln's assassination are ingrained in America's thinking in spite of documentation to the contrary. These myths include the belief that Booth was a madman, Mary Surratt was an innocent bystan- der, the military tribunal against the conspirators was illegal, the plot to kidnap Lincoln was separate from the actual assassination scheme, and perhaps most interesting, the belief that the Confederate government was unaware of the plot. "People just will not look at the evidence," he said.
John Sellers
John Sellers, the last speaker, discussed a "remarkable three-volume diary" by Horatio Nelson Taft, a New York legislator who came to Washington to work in the U.S. Patent Office. The diary, which was recently acquired by the Library, is accessible on the Library's American Memory Web site at memory.loc.gov/ammem/tafthtml/ (see "Information Bulletin," February 2002). Described by Sellers as "the first major discovery of its type in 50 years," the diary details events in Washington during the Civil War years, including Taft's personal connection to Abraham Lincoln and his family.
The Tafts met the Lincolns at a reception at the Willard Hotel, and their wives became friends. Taft's younger children were playmates for Lincoln's youngest sons, Willie and Tad. Of special interest is Taft's description of Lincoln's assassination, based on the accounts of his friends and his older son, Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, who was one of the attending physicians at Ford's Theatre the night Lincoln was shot.
At the day-long symposium, ALIMA's annual book award was presented to Kenneth J. Winkle for "Young Eagle," which deals with Lincoln's early life. The Hay-Nicolay Scholars Prize went to Brian Dirck for his book "Comparing Lincoln and Davis."
Mr. Carson is a member of ALIMA's Board of Directors, and the editor of "Manuscript News."