Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) Andrew Johnson was the war Democrat who became Lincoln’s second vice presidential running mate in 1864 after being offered the Democratic vice presidential nomination by Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Johnson supported John Breckinridge in the… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

James Harlan (1820-1899) An attorney, sometime co-counsel to Abraham Lincoln, judge and university (Iowa Wesleyan) president, he was generally loyal to President Lincoln and headed the President’s campaign fund raising and the Republican congressional committee in 1864. The President’s Illinois friends had pushed the… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891) Vice President elected on 1860 Republican ticket but unexpectedly dropped on 1864 Union ticket in favor of Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee War Democrat. He had a cordial but not close relationship with the President. He exercised an important role in the selection of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

William Pitt Fessenden (1806-1869) As a leading Senator in December 1862, he helped instigate actions which brought relations among President Lincoln and Radical Republicans in the Senate and Cabinet to a head and almost led to the ouster of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

William Dennison (1815-1882) Governor of Ohio (Republican, 1860-62) who strongly supported President Lincoln’s war policies, William Dennison lost renomination because of personal unpopularity. William B. Hesseltine, who wrote a study of Civil War governors, described him as “a man of…” Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Salmon P. Chase (1803-1873) Chase was a bureaucratic meddler whose interests ranged well beyond the Treasury Department. He often involved himself in policy regarding the army and allied himself with Republican Radicals in the Senate while using Treasury agents to set up a… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Simon Cameron (1799-1889) “The Great Winnebago Chief” and “Czar of Pennsylvania,” Simon Cameron was the Pennsylvania Republican leader who served in the Senate (1845-49, 1857-61, 1867-77), and replaced James Buchanan. A former Democrat with such widespread business interests in newspapers, banking and manufacturing that he resembled a… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Montgomery Blair (1813-1883) Postmaster General under Lincoln, Montgomery Blair was despised by radical Republicans and most of Lincoln’s cabinet. He was the lone hard-liner in Cabinet on Fort Sumter in 1861.   Later, he was a cantankerous opponent of emancipation and became an anathema to Radical Republicans; he resigned in September 1864 when President Lincoln… […]

Edward Bates (1793-1869) Attorney General under President Lincoln, Edward Bates was somewhat estranged from the rest of the cabinet before his resignation in 1864. In 1860, he was promoted as a candidate for president at the Republican National Convention. His previous support of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Pets The White House became home to a much wider assortment of animals, including two kittens given to the family by Secretary of State William H. Seward in August 1861, and two goats of whom Tad was fond. In his inimitable style, Tad once scattered a group of White House visitors in the East Room […]