Lincoln, the unknown

LINCOLN THE UNKNOWN • 155Cursing and swearing, he insulted meddlesome Congressmen.He waged a fierce and relentless war on dishonest contractors;ignored and violated the Constitution; arrested even generals,clapped them into prison and kept them there for months withouttrial. He lectured McClellan as if he were drilling a regiment,declared that he must fight. He swore that "the champagneand oysters on the Potomac must stop"; seized all the railroads;commandeered all the telegraph lines, made Lincoln send andreceive his telegrams through the war-office; assumed commandof all the armies, and wouldn't let even an order from Grantpass through the adjutant-general's office without his approval.For years Stanton had been racked with head pains, hadsuffered from asthma and indigestion.However, he was driven like a dynamo by one absorbingpassion: to hack and stab and shoot until the South came backinto the Union.Lincoln could endure anything to achieve that goal.One day a Congressman persuaded the President to give himan order transferring certain regiments. Rushing to the warofficewith the order, he put it on Stanton's desk; and Stantonsaid very sharply that he would do no such thing."But," the politician protested, "you forget I have an orderhere from the President.""If the President gave you such an order," Stanton retorted,"he is a damned fool."The Congressman rushed back to Lincoln, expecting to seehim rise up in wrath and dismiss the Secretary of War.But Lincoln listened to the story, and said with a twinkle inhis eye: "If Stanton said I was a damned fool, then I must be,for he is nearly always right. I'll just step over and see himmyself."He did, and Stanton convinced him that his order was wrongand Lincoln withdrew it.Realizing that Stanton bitterly resented interference, Lincolnusually let him have his way."I cannot add to Mr. Stanton's troubles," he said. "His positionis the most difficult in the world. Thousands in the armyblame him because they are not promoted, and other thousandsblame him because they are not appointed. The pressureupon him is immeasurable and unending. He is the rock on thebeach of our national ocean against which the breakers dash androar, dash and roar without ceasing. He fights back the angry