Abraham Lincoln Secretly Maneuvers to Use His Newly Found Political Influence on the National Stage

A newly discovered letter, offered for sale here for the first time, deaccessioned by a public library

He Will Use His Clout With the Taylor Administration to Replace His Law Partner Herndon’s Own Father As Receiver of the General Land Office with Davis; At the same time, Lincoln is maneuvering (and failing) to get President Taylor to name him Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington, showing the limits of his influence

From 1847-9, Lincoln was a U.S. Congressman from Illinois, and thus a force in state politics. In addition to being a man of strong principles, the way he is thought of today, it is important to remember that he was also a pragmatic politician, and had to be to have gained the presidency. He had been a great supporter of Henry Clay, but when it came time for the Whig Party to name a candidate for the 1848 presidential election, he switched his support to Zachary Taylor. He did this, he said, for practical reasons, as he felt that Taylor was electable and Clay might not be. During the 1848 campaign, Lincoln worked hard to put Taylor in the Executive Mansion, and though Taylor lost Illinois, he did win the election. So with Taylor taking office, he naturally expected to have a say in the distribution of government jobs, especially as related to Illinois, which under the spoils system in effect at the time generally went to supporters and loyal party members. As for those in office under an outgoing administration of another party, they could expect to be replaced. Lincoln made himself a part of that process, weighing in and using his influence to assist loyal Whigs and friends.

The greatest plum the Taylor camp held out as a reward for Illinois was the presidential appointment of the Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington. That position oversaw land surveys, sales of government land, swamp grants and railroad approval, and even set the boundaries of new territories. It was an important post, remunerative and powerful, and Lincoln initially wanted it for attorney Cyrus Edwards, brother of Lincoln's own brother-in-law, Ninian Edwards. He was not, however, the only Whig politician with claims to consideration, and after several months of jockeying, it appeared that if the Illinois Whigs could not decide on an appointee. Thus, the position could go out of state, or just as galling to Lincoln, to an Illinoisan whom he deemed unworthy. So faced with these potential outcomes, at the urging of friends Lincoln threw his own hat into the ring for commissioner, and began to write to Whigs around the country, drumming up support. He wrote fellow Congressman Moses Hampton in June 1849, ”At last I concluded to take the General Land-Office if I can get it…Will you please write old Zach (not Mr. Ewing, but old Zach) as pretty a letter for as you think the truth will permit? Time is important. What you do, do quickly.”

Meanwhile, as this political jockeying was going on, on March 10, 1849, Lincoln filed a patent for a device for “buoying vessels over shoals” with the US Patent Office. Patent No. 6,469 was approved two months later, giving Lincoln the honor of being the only U.S. president to hold a patent. During his brief experience as a ferryman on the Mississippi River, Lincoln was stranded twice on riverboats that had run aground. His invention, “adjustable buoyant air chambers,” would be attached to the sides of a boat. They could be lowered into the water and inflated to lift the boat over obstructions in the water. Lincoln whittled the scale patent model while Walter Davis, a Springfield mechanic having a shop near our office, provided tools and advice required for the patent. The model Davis built is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

In addition to his efforts to assist Edwards and his own appointment, one other instance of his attempts to influence offices within the gift of the Taylor administration is well known. The reason is that the prospective appointee was Davis, with whom he was actively working on his patent, and the officeholder whom he sought to oust and replace with Davis was none other than Archer G. Herndon, father of his own law partner, William H. Herndon. The elder Herndon had opposed Taylor’s election, and Lincoln realized that he was likely to be replaced by some Whig or other. Still, Lincoln’s maneuvering around this post was carrying pragmatic politics to the water’s edge.

The land claim referred to by Lincoln at the end of the letter relates to the case of Thomas Davis, Walter’s brother, who had died in service during the Mexican. During the 1848 session, Congress had weighed a proposal granting bounties to soldiers who had fought in various wars and this was extended to the Mexican War.  Lincoln had spoken on the House floor on this and helped Walter try to gain the bounty his now-deceased brother was due.

"It will perhaps be better for both you and me, for you to say nothing about this"

Autograph letter signed, Washington, January 5, 1849, to Davis, whom he addresses as "Friend Walter.” “Your letter is received. When I last saw you I said, that if the distribution of the offices should fall into my hands, you should have something; and I now say as much, but can say no more. I know no more now than I knew when you saw me, as to whether the present officers will be removed, or, if they shall, whether I shall be allowed to name the persons to fill them. It will perhaps be better for both you and me, for you to say nothing about this. I shall do what I can about the Land claim on your brother Thomas' account. Yours as ever, A. Lincoln.” This letter has just been deaccessioned by an institution, and has not before been offered for sale.

It is not surprising that Lincoln essentially swears Davis to secrecy, as that same day, Lincoln wrote his partner William Herndon denying that he had promised Davis the Springfield post office appointment, but reiterated his intention to help him obtain "something" if he could. He did not mention that the job he would seek for Davis was Herndon’s own father’s, and perhaps at that time he had not so decided, though the secrecy may suggest otherwise.  What wonders what William Herndon thought of all this.

A few months later, on April 9, Lincoln wrote the Secretary of the Interior specifically suggesting that Herndon be replaced with Davis. “I recommend that Walter Davis be appointed receiver of the land-office at this place, whenever there shall be a vacancy. I cannot say that Mr. Herndon, the present incumbent, has failed in the proper discharge of any of the duties of the office. He is a very warm partisan, and openly and actively opposed to the election of General Taylor.” Lincoln’s intervention was successful, as the May 23, 1849, newspaper Niles National Intelligencer lists as a civil appointment of the President, “Walter Davis, to be Receiver of the Land Office at Springfield, vice Archer G. Herndon, removed.”

Lincoln did not get the office he wanted, as Commissioner of the General Land Office, which revealed his influence with the Taylor administration was considerably less than he had supposed and had expected. He later remarked about failing to get the appointment, he “hardly ever felt so bad at any failure in my life.” He was offered, as consolation, the governorship of Oregon, but declined. He had been a one-term Congressman, a failed power broker, and an unsuccessful aspirant for a federal appointment. Abraham Lincoln was out of politics. He went home to work as a lawyer.

Because of the interest in Lincoln’s seeking to influence the Taylor administration and scarcity of material, the Lincoln letter to Moses Hampton (about his own appointment) sold at public sale for $170,000 in 2000. We’ve only seen a few others on this general topic since.