Existing comment:
The President's Day:
"I consider myself fortunate if at eleven o'clock... my tired and weary Husband is there, waiting in the lounge to receive me."
-- Mary Lincoln
Lincoln's Morning:
Lincoln rose early, often with the sun. Some mornings he could be seen hailing a newspaper boy on Pennsylvania Avenue. Most of the time he read a summary of the latest news prepared by his secretaries. Lincoln worked for a couple of hours before breakfasting on coffee and an egg, supplemented occasionally with bacon.
All in a Day's Work:
At nine o'clock the president made the first of several visits to the nearby War Department. Or he might review his correspondence. Two to three hundred letters arrived at the White House every day; Lincoln's secretaries handled the majority of these, destroying any threats before their intended victim could see them.
Keeping Shop:
At ten o'clock, Lincoln opened what he called his "shop" to callers. For the next three hours -- except on Tuesday and Fridays, when the Cabinet met -- the president had his "public opinion bath," confronting office seekers, consulting members of Congress, interviewing soldiers or journalists, or greeting members of the public who wished to shake his hand.
In Cabinet:
Twice a week, Lincoln met with his Cabinet. It was not a harmonious body. The other members envied Secretary Seward's close relationship with the president. Attorney General Bates complained that each department acted independently. Postmaster General Montgomery Blair quarreled with virtually everyone while Treasury Secretary Chase barely concealed his ambition to replace Lincoln in 1864. |