The Lincoln Miracle with Edward Achorn
Tonight’s speaker is Edward Acorn he is the author of two critically acclaimed books about Abraham Lincoln including his celebrated new book The Lincoln Miracle inside the Republican convention That Changed History which he’s going to discuss with us tonight and the other book He’s written on Lincoln was called his every every
Drop of blood the momentous second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln which was named one of the best books of 2020 by The Economist magazine he’s also the author of two classic baseball books the summer of beer and whiskey and 59 and 84 he is a Pitzer prize fin finalist uh
For commentary and he is also a recipient of the Yankee quill award for lifetime achievement in journalism I am so pleased to have him here today and I want to welcome Ed acor okay um as Diana mentioned uh I’m gonna go through a little bit of my my writing uh past and
As uh Diana mentioned I started off in 19th century baseball another side of American culture um 59 and 84 was about the greatest of competitors Hall of Fame Famer old hos radborne who won more games in a single season than any pitcher in history and something players
And managers well into the 20th century considered the greatest feat ever in baseball and he was quite a character according to a relative uh radborne drank a quart of whiskey a day at the the peak of his career and uh as Diana mentioned he was so ornery that he dressed in the other
Team’s locker room because he couldn’t stand his own teammates and he was apparently the first man ever photographed uh giving the middle finger and you might notice what he’s doing with his left hand there in that uh on that cover uh my second book was the summer of beer and whiskey about a
Crazy early Major League the American Association founded by Brewers and immigrants who actually saved the game of baseball I believe when it was going under um that book is still selling very well and I think that the title didn’t hurt but of course anyone who wants to
Write about the greatest figure of the 19th century has to be drawn to Abraham Lincoln it’s been my extraordinary privilege in recent years to have spent day and night in the company of Abraham Lincoln immersed in his world and his observations and as Diana mentioned I’ve
Written two books now about them I was trained as an old-fashioned journalist to search earnestly for the other side and I’ve spent a great deal of time investigating the evidence that he was a tyrant and a white supremacist but I found that no matter how relentlessly I search for Lincoln’s flaws and errors
The man’s Humanity Integrity pragmatism and courage shine through there’s a good reason here remains revered Lincoln told the story about meeting a woman on Horseback in the woods he waited for her to pass but instead she scrutinized him carefully before saying well for land’s sake you are the homeliest man I ever
Saw Yes Madam but I can’t help it he replied no I suppose not she said but you might stay at home and I can relate to that story is someone who’s training with was in Daily journalism rather than Academia I often felt like something of an interloper in Lincoln studies I might
Have stayed at home too as we mentioned some 18,000 books about Abraham Lincoln have been published and that’s more than any other human being than Jesus Christ how could I add anything to that pile well what made me proceed with my 2020 book every drop of blood
Was my feeling that there was a story about Lincoln that had never been told this way um the story is basically 24 hours in the life of Abraham Lincoln from the evening of March 3rd 1865 through his second inauguration to the evening of March 4th 1865 and this is a
Lens which I think we can see in remarkably sharp detail the Monstrous suffering Unleashed by the Civil War and de grasp the ultimate meaning of that war as Lincoln explained that meaning in what I believe is his greatest and most profound speech his second inaugural and I was struck by the very
Famous people who kept popping in and out of the story that day interacting with Lincoln and with each other interwoven like a rich tapestry the great black leader Frederick Douglas who watched Lincoln deliver his speech and later discussed it with him at a White House reception popular actor John wils
Booth who evidently stalked Lincoln at the inauguration Great American poet Walt Whitman who covered the inaugural events for the New York Times and the angel of the battlefield Clara Barton who spent that week trying to meet with Lincoln and finally greeted him at the reception and of course the vice
President uh Andrew Johnson who showed up at the inauguration very drunk the perspectives of these very different people provide a powerful and I think uh moving view of what this war was about and what Lincoln was up against on that rainy muddy day in Washington and I
Tried to weave them all into the story at the center of it all of course is Abraham Lincoln would be seen standing in the middle of the crowd reading his speech just above the table with the glass of water on it he did something that day that no other
Politician would on the cusp of Victory after four years of a brutal divisive and widely despised War he declined to make a speech about the Union’s impending Triumph instead he argued that both sides had been wrong that the misery that both sides shared might have been the price required for ending the
Terrible moral wrong slavery that speech is pure Lincoln brief moving unbelievably profound sonorous with the language of Shakespeare in the King James Bible and steeped in a Biblical understanding of the shortcomings of human beings after the tragedy of that war Lincoln argued that it was time for Americans to stop thinking about
Self-righteousness the only way forward he argued was to recognize that all had been wrong and to sacrifice hatred and Vengeance and to treat each other with Mercy with malice toward none with charity for all now I I think a very narrow focus on a historical event and give us an
Understanding that the usual omniscient historical view cannot it brings us very close to the ground instead of viewing everything from 30,000 feed up studied in the course of one day historical figures almost magically become Flesh and Blood including um subject to emotions and other vicissitudes uh including the politics
Of the moment it becomes clearer they were groping in the dark and had no idea how things would turn out with this forc perspective we also get a stronger sense of how everything looked sounded and smelled so I adopted this approach which some call Micro hisory in my new book The Lincoln
Miracle in that book we go back five years before the inauguration the one week in Chicago in May 1860 now at that time many Northerners were fed up with the political bullying corruption and censorship of the Democrats s since Democrats had split between north and south and were unable
To choose a candidate at their own convention and Sh in Charleston days earlier Republicans who gathered in Chicago knew they had a very real chance of nominating the next president of the United States and the political struggle that took place that week I think constituted a miracle for Lincoln and the United States
Lincoln went in as the darkest of dark horses after all he had lost two El excuse me two elections for the US Senate that had not held public office for more than a decade an Illinois paper set of him Lincoln is undoubtedly the most unfortunate politician that ever attempted to rise in
Illinois in everything he undertakes politically he seems doomed to failure he has been prostrated enough in his political schemes to have crushed the life out of an ordinary man Lincoln had almost no formal education and his country mannerism struck many people as quaint at best he he told dirty jokes his executive
Experience was pretty much limited to running a Twan Law Office Lincoln himself and told Lincoln himself had told people he did not think himself fit for the presidency and just two years earlier he declared with roaring laughter just think of such a sucker as me as president in early 1860 when he
Visited New York City he struck many people as crude he had trouble deciphering a menu with many dishes in French till a waiter mentioned beans l LC’s face brightened and he said hold on there bring me beans I know beans in fact Lincoln’s chances seem so remote that the leaders of the
Republican National Committee approved Chicago as the convention site in part because they thought it was neutral ground no serious candidate in their viw came from Illinois candidates in those days did not show up at the convention and Lincoln was such a long shot that he contemplated attending he told a friend
He felt he was too much of a candidate to go and not quite enough to stay home in the end he wisely stayed back in Springfield in this uh lithographic Center spread of the candidates published on Saturday May 12th 1860 when the book effectively began kins Harper’s Weekly played Lincoln’s
Picture on the bottom with the also rans his written description of Lincoln was dead last among all the candidates at best people were talking about Lincoln as a possible Vice Presidential nominee coming as he did from an important swing state front and center with the biggest picture in the first and longest write
Up was the Superstar of the Republican Party the former Governor of New York and current US senator William Seward Seward was regarded as the founder and father of the Republican Party a bold opponent of slavery and defender of the rights of immigrants and he was managed by a brilliant political strategist named
Thorlo weed who could make or break senators and presidents he had more money than than any other candidate Seward had traveled to Europe as Diana mentioned several months before the convention where he capped his preparation for the presidency by meeting with world leaders including Queen Victoria Pope Pas I 9th and
France’s Emperor Napoleon III when he returned he was mobbed by Americans who wanted him to be the next president he was Far and Away the most popular candidate with the delegates gathering in Chicago but his strength was deceptive this man is the militant abolitionist John Brown previous October
He had been he had raided a federal Armory plan to provide slaves with guns for a violent Insurrection against whites while Brown was apprehended and hanged the incident infuriated the South and terrified many voters in the North many thought all the slavery talk was putting impossible pressures on the
Political system threatening to break the nation into two and ignite a violent Civil War and nobody was more famous for anti-slavery rhetoric than William seart though Lincoln had made many of the same points against slavery he was far less known to the voters on top of that seart had openly
Supported immigrants and was close to Catholic leaders something that turned off a sizable portion of the Republican base who feared that rampant immigration was helping Democrats steal elections and destroying America from within former members of the American party often called the no nothing party might well Bolt from the Republicans if they nominated
Seward Lincoln’s position on immigrants meanwhile was so little known known that some people assumed he was a no nothing in truth Lincoln despised the movement and he likeed to tell the story of a man who helped with his gardening an Irish immigrant named Patrick Lincoln asked Pat why he was not born in
America fate Mr Lincoln he said I wanted to be but me mother wouldn’t let me one of the most striking things that quickly became clear in my research was that these men gathered in Chicago were not choosing a candidate on the basis of who might make the best president in a national
Crisis their biggest concern by far was who would get the most Republicans elected which meant Power jobs and money the pr linol Chicago press and Tribune appealed to the naked self-interest in an editorial aimed at arriving delegates quote constables are worth more than presidents in the long run run
As a means of holding political power the legislature is of vastly more consequence to particular States than their delegations in Congress we look to Mr Lincoln to tow constables and general assembly members into Power the gods help those who help themselves there was something else going for Lincoln that wasn’t
Immediately apparent to the national press though he was OB skure and had been defeated repeatedly in the political realm he was well known and well liked in in Illinois for years he had worked the eth District Court Circuit in Central Illinois going to small towns and making friends with his
Funny stories and his fairness his kindness and intelligence as a result he had a team of DieHard supporters ready to work themselves to exhaustion for him in Chicago and they could afford to do so because the convention was taking place in state and that loyalty made all the
Difference early in the convention the uh Chief alternative to Seward appeared to be a Missouri Judge named Edward Bates who was a conservative man who did not like all this agitation about slavery his supporters argued he would calm the self and negate all threats of secession and he had the backing of some
Powerful forces including the most influential newspaper editor in the country Horus gley who was angry at Seward for blocking his political career unfortunately for Bates German immigrants were dead set against him because he had flirted with the no nothing party prominent Germans went so far as to hold their own National
Convention that same week just down the road from the Republican one sending a a terrifying signal to the delegates German immigrants made up only a small percentage of Republican voters but they were enough to sway elections in many northern states the delegates therefore did not
Dare go with baates I call this book The Lincoln miracle in part because so many things be Beyond Lincoln’s control slotted into place perfectly to advance him little bit about Chicago where the convention took place Chicago in 1860 was a powerful symbol of the American Spirit of Daring and
Innovation just 25 years earlier it had been a small cluster of primitive cabins around Fort Dearborn on the swampy banks of the Chicago River but its location turned it overnight into a roaring Transportation Hub by 186 its population had soared to 112,000 making it the nation’s ninth largest
City its Skyline was dominated by giant grain elevators and it was already connected by more Rail lines than any City in the globe unfortunately that explosive growth left it overrun by rats and plagued by pollution and disease in 1860 uh oops in 1860 the downtown was in the process C of lifting
Its buildings with giant cork screws so that the street level could be raised and sewer pipes buried the Chicago River had the color and consistency of peas soup and stank so badly that women had to cover their noses with handkerchiefs while shopping downtown and there was a lively
Underworld of uh sex and gambling in Chicago by 1860 uh the city’s mayor was this big boisterous 6 foot6 man named Long John Wentworth who drank heavily in new Lincoln weal he once told a group of unruly citizens who had gathered to hear him you damned fools you can either vote for
Me for mayor or you can go to hell as mayor he made a weekly drag net of houses of prostitution reportedly to shake down people who were arrested during this convention week in Chicago he nabs some Ohio delegates at The Establishment run by a well-known Madam named Kate Howard the gigantic mayor one
Newspaper wrote had been looking forward to the arrival of the conventioneers with feelings of delight akin to that with which a lean spider looks forward to the brisk fly time of Summer his favorite method of replenishing the city finances is by arresting and finding boys of mature growth who go to naughty
Places the money extorted helped Grease the creaking wheels of our city government this is The Wigwam built of wood thrown up in just six weeks to host the convention it was located at the corner of Lake Street and Market near Wacker Drive near the Chicago River on
The former side of the Sagen as Hotel the city’s first public building fitting up to 11,000 people it was the largest indoor Auditorium in America this is the inside of the Wigwam viewed from the ladies Gallery upstairs this is looking down on the giant stage on the left there where the
Delegates were sitting in two groups with the press in the middle one of the clever things a Lincoln supporter did was assign the seating on stage to tilt the playing field he put the solid Seward votes all on one side but the doubtful ones on the
Other side that made it easy for the Lincoln forces to negotiate with the swing delegations between votes and almost impossible for the sew men to reach them there was no electric amplification back then but the way the structure was designed with that curved ceiling speakers voices could be heard all over
The hall now ladies got first dibs on parts of this Gap which made them valuable assets for men trying to get inside quickly men began picking up any woman on the street including washer women school girls and prostitutes and paying them to come inside with them a man tried to bribe
One woman to come with him but she refused saying she had already entered the Wigwam six times before sneaking back outside and was afraid she’d be arrested if she tried it again the the decorations here were put up by the ladies of Chicago with gaslights flaring amid Evergreens unfinished wood and cloth
Bunting The Wigwam must have been as historian Bruce katton noted one of the most dangerous fire traps ever built in America sewards manager thurlo weed there on the left understood crowd psychology and the herd Instinct and he brought thousands of supporters with him by train to Chicago they LED huge
Parades in the streets and filled up The Wigwam creating a strong impression of the inevitability of Seward’s nomination Lincoln’s team was puny by comparison it was led by a good friend David Davis a 300 pound judge who traveled the central Illinois judicial circuit with Lincoln for six months a
Year that’s him and his delegate card to the convention when Davis showed up in Chicago he discovered no one was in charge and the Lincoln Campaign was so disorganized nobody had even booked a room to serve as its headquarters Davis took over as Lincoln’s manager without any official
Appointment and barely slept the rest of the week on Thursday evening the delegates had not settled on an alternative to Seward the new New Yorker had won a series of test votes that day and was poised to win the nomination when another miracle occurred the tally
Sheets for voting had not yet arrived at the PO Podium and the delegates were so hungry by that point they decided to adjourn and vote the next day rather than wait a few minutes for a want of tally sheets Seward was not nominated that evening that gave the Lincoln men
More time to defeat him on such slender threads hang the destiny of Nations the Lincoln men worked hard that night judge Davis countered Seward’s psychological advantages as we discussed earlier by finding Champion shouters and assigning them spaces in the hall for maximum effect and somebody on the team managed to print counterfeit admission
Tickets to The Wigwam forging them overnight with the names of Republican officials after the Seward forces staged a final Grand parade with marching bands Friday morning they arrived at The Wigwam to find their seats occupied even though they had legit tickets the shouting of the Lincoln supporters would create an illusion that
Day of great strength Davis had also worked overnight selling cabinet positions and other offices for support Lincoln sent a message from Springfield warning ing his supporters to make no deals in his name Davis told his team Lincoln ain’t here and don’t know what we have to meet so we will go
Ahead as if we hadn’t heard from him and he must ratify it overnight Davis made deals that he did not know would stick until the actual voting the next day in fact he confessed later that he promised some of the same offices to multiple delegates ations quote you must have prevaricated
Somewhat a friend responded to his story prevaricated Davis reply prevaricated he lied like hell Lincoln was way behind Seward on the first ballot but with his men inside screaming in the Pennsylvania delegation flipping to Lincoln as promised Lincoln captured the nomination on the third ballot his victory astounded many of the
People in the hall never mind the nation outside the political professionals at The Wigwam accepted him as the candidate was as bitterly opposed to slavery as Seward thus appealing to the party’s base but much less famous and not thus not as scary to swing voters and unlike
Bates he was not offensive to Immigrant voters so all these things John Brown the no nothings the Germans the location of the convention the momentary lack of tally sheets slotted into place perfectly for Lincoln the party insiders knew they could sell Lincoln’s classic ragster Rich’s story of lifting himself from a
Poor childhood in a log cabin already he was known as The Rail splitter for having split thousands of rails after he came to to Illinois the uh Seward supporters were livid they were absolutely livid to see the nomination stolen away from them and they blamed this man New York Tribune
Editor Horus gy gy who was probably most famous for the saying Go West Young Man spent the week warning delegates that Seward was too controversial to win the Seward men thought it was all an act of Vengeance since weed and Seward had refused to make gy lieutenant governor
Of New York giving the job instead to New York Times editor Henry Raymond reallyy had a lot of influence with Republicans and his timely opposition was another reason the Lincoln miracle happened after the vote gley had the nerve to show up at New York headquarters where the delegates cursed
Him to his face Seward’s men one reporter wrote accused gy of stabbing Seward and say he shall be paid for it in less than a year he was paid for it the Seward team got its revenge by blocking gy from the US Senate though SE put a foot put on a good
Face he was devastated thinking himself far superior to the uneducated ated an inexperienced rail splitter before the November election Lincoln invited him repeatedly to visit him in Springfield and Seward excuse me only condescended to stop his train at the station there while heading to a speech in Chicago on October
2nd Lincoln had Lincoln had to wait on platform for the great man and then fight his way through the CR proud to get to Seward inside the railroad car after Lincoln approached Seward delivered a calculated snub as one reporter noted Seward Rose from his seat shook hands with him
Introduced him to the ladies and gentlemen of his company and then without entering into a conversation of even formal courtesy with him resumed his seat like most presidential candidates like most presidential candidates of the time Lincoln sat out the election remaining at his house in Springfield refusing to comment on the
Crisis in gulfing America here he’s out front to the right of the door as a massive campaign parade stopped on octob on August 8th he did communicate with an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bell who advised him to grow whiskers your face is so thin she wrote All the Ladies like whiskers and they
Would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President Lincoln listened and grew his famous beard whether whiskers helped or not he did win the presidency handedly in the Electoral College though he captured only 39% of the popular vote the second smallest percentage of any Victor in our
Nation’s history his name was not even on the ballot in the Deep South though he proved very popular in the north the delegates who nominated him succeeded in getting their jobs power and patronage for the most part but they had no real idea of Lincoln’s greatness of his political Brilliance Humanity
Pragmatism flare for the English language and powers of endurance that would be crucial to the nation’s survival and the end of slavery during the Civil War a reporter on the scene at The Wigwam later wrote they had nominated they had nominated the plane everyday storytelling mirth provoking Lincoln of the
Hustings the husk only of the Lincoln of History it took four Fe fearful years to give the event its true relations in right proportions and it was not until the veil was drawn by an Assassin’s hand that the real Lincoln was revealed he concluded that the delegates had been the unconscious instruments of
A higher power so much had to come together perfectly for Lincoln that I think the word miracle is not is not an exaggeration well that’s a whirlwind tour through the book I apologize for my coughing there and I’m grateful to every one of you who cares about history thank you
Ever wonder how a backwoods politician like Lincoln rose to be President of the United States? Hear about the hilarious hijinks at the Republican Convention and how one delay in voting changed the nominee from Seward to Lincoln. Achorn is the author of The Lincoln Miracle.