| Rita's ~
VINTAGE READING®
~ Notebook
Since 1947, "Mrs. B" has found and verified countless people, events . . .
and--at times--even figments of imagination. We offer an example.
FEBRUARY - MARCH 2007 :: © 2007 Buday Books / Vintage Reading®
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Two Pieces of Wood
Helped Elect Lincoln
By Rita Buday
Richard
Oglesby admired his friend Abraham Lincoln and wanted him to be
nominated for President at the 1860 Republican National
Convention. The front-runner was nationally-known U.S. Senator
and former New York Governor William Seward, whose campaign was being
run in high gear by Thurlow Weed, New York's long-time kingmaker.
Weed was calling in political IOUs, showing delegates The Promised Land
of Patronage if they delivered votes for his man.
Seemed like it was all over and done, except for the celebration.
~ ~
Oglesby was new to politics. He'd taken a hiatus from his Illinois law
office to hunt for gold in 1849; returned to his office two years
later--no better off. Ran for Congress in 1858; defeated.
~ ~
Lincoln
was known in Illinois as a pretty good country lawyer, though a
political lightweight. He was not distinguished as a Congressman
1847-49, but when he made a speech in the House criticizing President
Polk for starting the Mexican War, the voters back home called Honest
Abe "unpatriotic--a second Benedict Arnold--who pleaded the case of the
enemy." (That was widely repeated . . . in 1849!) He was not re-elected.
Twice he ran for Senator; twice he learned
voters sometimes have long memories; twice he was soundly
defeated.
Illinois Republicans would soon gather to pick their
State Delegates to the National Convention. Abe was willing to
try for the nomination, though his prospects were not all that bright.
The Cooper Union speech and debates with
Stephen Douglas, "The Little Giant," brought some national notice, but
for Lincoln to have a real chance for the nomination, Oglesby needed "a
something"--a something catchy--so Abe's name would come to mind quickly & favorably.
~ ~
John
Hanks, Lincoln's relative on his mother's side, always said how--30
years ago--he and Abe cleared twenty acres of forest, built a log
cabin, and split felled trees into fence rails. Oglesby and Hanks rode out to the old cabin,
found the fences still standing, took two of the rails home, and made a
sign--"Abe Lincoln The Rail-Splitter for President in 1860." At
the State Delegate Meeting, in walked John Hanks with the two fence
rails and their home-made sign. The Delegates went wild.
Oglesby
had found his "something." They saw Lincoln as a common man--just like them.
Illinois Delegates, fired-up for Lincoln, rolled their bandwagon into
the National Convention.
On the third ballot, "The Rail-Splitter"
swamped Seward to become the Republican nominee.
In the national campaign Lincoln reinforced
his country-folk image. He plodded into town on a
tired-horse-drawn hay wagon instead of the flashier, gussied-up
coach-and-four favored by most politicians.
His tall stovepipe
hat and rumpled black suit with pants that never quite reached his
ankles hung on him in silent apology. There wasn't much to
inspire voter enthusiasm--until he began to speak. His speeches
were those of a quiet-spoken country lawyer, peppered with bits of
humor and occasional back-porch anecdotes, always building a strong &
stronger legal case for his national jury to consider.
~ ~
In the election
Lincoln had over 489,000 more votes than his nearest competitor.
Thurlow Weed, Seward's political manager, had been out-foxed by
Oglesby, a political neophyte.
It was enough to make a man lose his faith in practical politics!
_____
Richard Oglesby often told this story.
He was elected Illinois Governor 1865-69; re-elected Governor 1873 but
was promptly appointed U.S. Senator 1874-80; re-elected Governor again
1885-89. ~ William Seward became Secretary of State in Lincoln's--and
Andrew Johnson's--Cabinets. (Seward was ridiculed for buying
Alaska--"Seward's Folly.")
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