Team of Rivals

by Goodwin, Doris Kearns

  Powell told the servant…but Fred refused: Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic (1873), p. 293.

  “stood apparently irresolute…pulled the trigger”: Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, p. 259.

  last memory Fred would have…unconscious: Cincinnati [Ohio] Commercial, December 8, 1865.

  Private Robinson…headed toward Seward: Charles F. Cooney, “Seward’s Savior: George F. Robinson,” Lincoln Herald (Fall 1973), p. 93.

  begging him not to kill…“face bending over”: Entry for April 14, 1865, in Johnson, “Sensitivity and Civil War,” pp. 879–80.

  large bowie knife…“loose on his neck”: Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic (1873), p. 291.

  his only impressions…“overcoat is made of”: WHS, quoted in Cincinnati [Ohio] Commercial, December 8, 1865.

  Fanny’s screams…the floor: Entry for April 14, 1865, in Johnson, “Sensitivity and Civil War,” p. 880.

  managed to pull Powell away…the right hand: Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic (1873), p. 292.

  Gus ran for his pistol…fled through the city: Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, p. 279.

  lifted Seward onto the bed…rooms on the parlor floor: Entry for April 14, 1865, in Johnson, “Sensitivity and Civil War,” pp. 882, 884.

  “He looked like an…yes, of one man!”: Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic (1873), pp. 291–92.

  Atzerodt had taken a room…“not to kill”: Donald, Lincoln, p. 596.

  seated at the bar…and never returned: Winik, April 1865, p. 226.

  had attended a dress rehearsal…Harry Ford: Kauffman, American Brutus, pp. 214, 217.

  play had started…“with a smile and bow”: Charles A. Leale, M.D., to Benjamin F. Butler, July 20, 1867, container 43, Butler Papers, DLC.

  armchair at the center…sofa on her left: “Major Rathbone’s Affidavit,” in J. E. Buckingham, Sr., Reminiscences and Souvenirs of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, D.C.: Rufus H. Darby, 1894), pp. 73,75.

  “rested her hand…situation on the stage”: Charles Sabin Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (February 1893), p. 634.

  later recalled…“think any thing about it”: Randall, Mary Lincoln, p. 382.

  footman delivered a message…and fired: Winik, April 1865, p. 223; Harris, Lincoln’s Last Months, p. 224.

  “As he jumped…struck the stage”: Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (1893), p. 634.

  “he was suffering…he struggled up”: Annie F. F. Wright, “The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” Magazine of History 9 (February 9, 1909), p. 114.

  “his shining dagger…it had been a diamond”: Leale to Butler, July 20, 1867, container 43, Butler Papers, DLC.

  shouted…“Sic semper tyrannis”: Wright, “The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” Magazine of History (1909), p. 114.

  saw Mary Lincoln…“shot the President!”: Ibid.

  Charles Leale…pressure on Lincoln’s brain: Leale to Butler, July 20, 1867, container 43, Butler Papers, DLC.

  Charles Sabin Taft…boardinghouse: Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (1893), p. 635.

  Joseph Sterling…headed for Seward’s house: Joseph A. Sterling, quoted in Star, April 14, 1918.

  already gone to bed…set forth in the foggy night: Entry for April 14, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, pp. 283–84.

  Blood was everywhere…floor of the bedroom: Entry for April 14, 1865, in Johnson, “Sensitivity and Civil War,” p. 886.

  “was saturated with blood”…he decided to join them: Entry for April 14, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, pp. 285–86 (quote p. 285).

  Chase had already retired…“a night of horrors”: Entries for April 14, 1865, Chase Papers, Vol. 1, pp. 528–29.

  Lincoln had been placed…“spare appearance”: Entry for April 14, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, p. 286.

  “would have killed most men…much vitality”: Entry for April 30, 1865, Taft diary.

  Mary spent most…“overcome by emotion”: Entry for April 14, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, p. 287.

  “Why didn’t he shoot me?”…not told, out of fear: Field, Memories of Many Men, p. 322.

  “clean napkins…stains on the pillow”: Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (1893), p. 635.

  Robert, who had remained…“leaving his cheeks”: Thomas F. Pendel, Thirty-Six Years in the White House (Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Company, 1902), pp. 42–43.

  to summon Tad…his father’s condition: Leale to Butler, July 20, 1867, container 43, Butler Papers, DLC.

  Tad and his tutor…to see Aladdin: M. Helen Palmes Moss, “Lincoln and Wilkes Booth as Seen on the Day of the Assassination,” Century LXXVII (April 1909), p. 951.

  decorated with patriotic…“shrieking in agony”: NR, April 15, 1865.

  “Poor little Tad…fell into a sound sleep”: Pendel, Thirty-Six Years in the White House, p. 44.

  entire cabinet…“heartrending lamentations”: NYH, April 16, 1865.

  “there was not a soul…love the president”: Star, February 15, 1896.

  “While evidently swayed…in all things”: A. F. Rockwell, quoted in Flower, Edwin McMasters Stanton, p. 283.

  dictated numerous dispatches…“wait for the next”: Star, February 15, 1896.

  first telegram…“in a dangerous condition”: Thomas T. Eckert to USG, April 14, 1865, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. XLVI, Part III, pp. 744–45.

  reached Grant…“in perfect silence”: Porter, Campaigning with Grant, p. 499.

  he had turned “very pale”: Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant, p. 156.

  Julia Grant guessed…“that could be received”: Porter, Campaigning with Grant, pp. 499–500.

  he told Julia…“tenderness and magnanimity”: Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant, p. 156.

  At 1 a.m., Stanton telegraphed…“best detectives”: EMS to John H. Kennedy, April 15, 1865, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. XLVI, Part III, p. 783.

  “The wound is mortal…is now dying”: EMS to John A. Dix, April 15, 1865, 1:30 a.m., OR, Ser. 1, Vol. XLVI, Part III, p. 780.

  “The President continues…shot the President”: Ibid., 4:10 a.m., p. 781.

  Shortly after dawn…“death-struggle had begun”: Entry for April 14, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, p. 288.

  “As she entered”…sofa in the parlor: Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (1893), p. 635.

  “the town clocks…be again resumed”: Field, Memories of Many Men, p. 325.

  “Let us pray”…everyone present knelt: Leale to Butler, July 20, 1867, container 43, Butler Papers, DLC.

  At 7:22 a.m…. “belongs to the ages”: Donald, Lincoln, p. 599. As David Donald notes, witnesses thought theyheard several variations of Stanton’s utterance, including “He belongs to the ages now,” “He now belongs to the Ages,” and “He is a man for the ages.” Donald, Lincoln, p. 686, endnote for p. 599 beginning “to the ages.”

  “Oh, why did you not…he was dying”: NYH, April 16, 1865.

  moans could be heard…taken to her carriage: Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours,” Century 45 (1893), p. 636; Field, Memories of Many Men, p. 326.

  Stanton’s “coolness”…streamed down his cheeks: NYH, April 16, 1865.

  “Stanton’s grief…break down and weep bitterly”: Porter, Campaigning with Grant, p. 501.

  “Not everyone knows…his honor and yours”: JH to EMS, July 26, 1865, in Hay, At Lincoln’s Side, p. 106.

  “Is he dead?…entire face was distorted”: Field, Memories of Many Men, p. 327.

  walked to Seward’s house…Blair and his father: Entry for April 15, 1865, Chase Papers, Vol. I, pp. 529, 530.

  “with tearful eyes…of our side”: EBL to SPL, April 15, 1865, in Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, p. 495.

  Richmond Whig… “South has descended”: Richmond Whig, quoted in Robert S. Harper, Lincoln a
nd the Press (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951), p. 360.

  St. Louis…comfortable study: Entry for January 27, 1865, The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 443.

  “the astounding news…country and for myself”: Entry for April 15, 1865, in ibid., p. 473.

  News of Lincoln’s death…“sinking into his mind”: Brooks, Mr. Lincoln’s Washington, pp. 458–59 (quotes p. 459).

  “The history of governments…confidence and regard”: “Hay’s Reminiscences of the Civil War,” in Hay, At Lincoln’s Side, pp. 128–29.

  Flags remained…“the farewell march”: Brooks, Washington, D.C., in Lincoln’s Time, pp. 271 (quote), 273.

  nearly two hundred thousand Union soldiers: Smith, The Francis Preston Blair Family in Politics, Vol. II, p. 185.

  “Never in the history…shrill call of bugles”: Brooks, Washington, D.C., in Lincoln’s Time, pp. 272–74.

  “magnificent and imposing spectacle”: Entry for May 19, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, p. 310.

  “You see in these…half a dozen presidents”: EMS, quoted in Flower, Edwin McMasters Stanton, p. 288.

  “more and more dim…found in every family”: AL, “Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois,” January 27, 1838, in CW, I, p. 115.

  “a new birth of freedom…perish from the earth”: AL, “Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg,” final text, November 19, 1863, in CW, VII, p. 23.

  second day belonged…“with our swords”: Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, p. 731.

  All of Washington…“All felt this”: Entry for April 19, 1865, Welles diary, Vol. II, p. 310.

  “a Cabinet which should…than one counsellor”: WHS, “The President and His Cabinet,” October 20, 1865, Works of William H. Seward, Vol. V, p. 527.

  “I have no doubt…greatest man I ever knew”: Tribute by General Grant, in Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 7.

  “I have more than once…Nineteenth Century”: Walt Whitman, “November Boughs,” The Complete Prose Works of Walt Whitman, Vol. III (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Knickerbocker Press, 1902), pp. 206–07.

  Leo Tolstoy…“light beams directly on us”: Leo Tolstoy, quoted in The World, New York, February 7, 1908.

  “Every man is said…yet to be developed”: AL, “Communication to the People of Sangamo County,” March 9, 1832, in CW, I, p. 8.

  “he had done nothing…that he had lived”: AL, paraphrased in Joshua F. Speed to WHH, February 7, 1866, in HI, p. 197.

  “conceived in Liberty…all men are created equal”: AL, “Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863; Edward Everett Copy,” in CW, VII, p. 21.

  “With malice toward none; with charity for all”: AL, “Second Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1865, CW, VIII, p. 333.

  EPILOGUE

  “night of horrors”: Entries for April 14, 1865, Chase Papers, Vol. I, p. 529.

  “vicarious suffering”: FAS, in “Miscellaneous Fragments in Mrs. Seward’s Handwriting,” reel 197, Seward Papers.

  “the largest…woman in America”: New York Independent, undated, in Seward family scrapbook, Seward House Foundation Historical Association, Inc., Library, Auburn, N.Y.

  Fanny remained…tuberculosis: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 266.

  Seward was inconsolable: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 417.

  “Truly it may…mother and daughter”: Washington Republican, undated, in Seward family scrapbook, Seward House.

  attempts to mediate…radicals in Congress: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 452.

  “Seward’s Folly”: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 278.

  spent his last years traveling: Ibid., pp. 290–91, 292–94; NYT, October 11, 1872.

  Jenny asked…“Love one another”: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 296; Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, p. 508 (quote).

  Thurlow Weed…wept openly: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 296.

  Stanton’s remaining…asked for his resignation: Pratt, Stanton, p. 452; Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, p. 583.

  Refusing to honor…removal order: George C. Gorham, Life and Public Services of Edwin M. Stanton, Vol. II (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, Riverside Press, 1899), p. 444.

  “barricaded himself”: Pratt, Stanton, p. 452.

  taking his meals in the department: Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, p. 595.

  Tenure of Office Act: “Tenure of Office Act,” in The Reader’s Companion to American History, ed. Foner and Garraty, pp. 1,063–64.

  impeachment failed…submitted his resignation: Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, p. 608.

  Grant nominated him…“only office”: Wolcott, “Edwin M. Stanton,” p. 178.

  short-lived…severe asthma attack: Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. IX, ed. Dumas Malone (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935; 1964), p. 520; Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, pp. 637–38; Christopher Bates, “Stanton, Edwin McMasters,” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 1852.

  “I know that it is…he was then”: Robert Todd Lincoln to Edwin L. Stanton, quoted in Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, p. 638.

  close-knit family…Confederate Army: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, p. 330.

  “it was in his social…death cannot sever”: Address by Colonel J. C. Broadhead, in “Addresses by the Members of the St. Louis Bar on the Death of Edward Bates,” Bates Papers, MoSHi.

  impeachment trial…resting with the Democrats: Blue, Salmon P. Chase, p. 285.

  Kate serving…derailed his ambitions: Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. II, ed. Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1929; 1958), p. 33.

  switched his allegiance…to Horace Greeley: Niven, Salmon P. Chase, pp. 447–48.

  physical condition weakened…depression: Ibid., pp. 444, 448–49.

  “too much of an invalid…I were dead”: SPC to Richard C. Parsons, May 5, 1873, Chase Papers, Vol. V, p. 370.

  Kate saw her marriage…died in poverty: Belden and Belden, So Fell the Angels, pp. 297–98, 306–10, 320, 326–27, 348.

  Frank Blair…intemperate denunciations: Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. I, ed. Allen Johnson (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927; 1964), pp. 333–34.

  died from a fall: NYT, July 10, 1875.

  “his physical vigor…of disposition”: Sun, Baltimore, Md., October 19, 1876.

  Montgomery served…biography of Andrew Jackson: Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. I (1964 edn.), p. 340.

  wrote a series…“herculean tasks”: Niven, Gideon Welles, pp. 576–77 (quote p. 576).

  perceptive diary…streptococcus infection: Ibid., pp. 578, 580.

  remained friends…abridged version: Nicolay, Lincoln’s Secretary, pp. 301, 342.

  Shortly before he died…“overpowering melancholy”: William Roscoe Thayer, The Life and Letters of John Hay (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), pp. 405, 407.

  “each morning…as an impossibility”: MTL to EBL, August 25, 1865, in Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 268.

  “precious Tad…gladly welcome death”: MTL to Alexander Williamson, [May 26, 1867], in ibid., p. 422.

  Tad journeyed…“beyond his years”: NYTrib, July 17, 1871.

  “compression of the heart”: Turner and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, p. 585.

  “The modest and cordial…fantastic enterprises”: NYTrib, July 17, 1871.

  “It is very hard…to the contrary”: Robert Todd Lincoln to Mary Harlan, quoted in Helm, The True Story of Mary, p. 267.

  erratic behavior…permanently estranged: Randall, Mary Lincoln, pp. 430–34.

  virtual recluse…fulfilled at last: Ibid., pp. 442–43.

  ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

  Numbers in roman type refer to illustrations in the inserts; numbers in italics refer to book pages.

  Chicago Historical Society.

  Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum.

 
Courtesy of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Rochester Library.

  Seward House, Auburn, New York.

  From the collection of Louise Taper.

  Ohio Historical Society.

  The Saint Louis Art Museum.

  Library of Congress: front endpapers, back endpapers.

  Missouri Historical Society.

  Picture History.

  Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

  Brown University Library.

  United States Army Military History Institute.

  National Archives.

  Courtesy of J. Wayne Lee.

  National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution / Art Resource, New York.

  Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society.

  Civil War Collection, Eastern Kentucky University Archives, Richmond, Kentucky.

  White House Historical Association (White House Collection).

  DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN won the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time. She is also the author of the bestselling Wait Till Next Year, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts, with her husband, Richard Goodwin.

  Photographic Insert

  Abraham Lincoln photographed at age forty-eight in Chicago on February 28, 1857. The lawyer’s political star had begun to rise at last. A year later, accepting his party’s nomination for U.S. senator, he would utter the famous words “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

  Mary Todd Lincoln, shown here at twenty-eight, after four years of marriage. Upon their first meeting, Lincoln told Mary: “I want to dance with you in the worst way.” And, Mary laughingly told her cousin later that night, “he certainly did.”

  The Lincolns were indulgent parents, believing that “love is the chain whereby to lock a child to its parent.” Robert was the eldest (3), followed by Willie (4) and Tad (5). Another son, Eddie, died of tuberculosis in 1850 at the age of three.