Existing comment:
Office Seekers:
One morning Lincoln met with a group advocating a candidate for Commissioner of the Sandwich (later Hawaiian) Islands. Not only was he qualified for the post, said the man's friends; but the Hawaiian climate would benefit his uncertain health.
Lincoln cut them short. "Gentlemen," he announced, "there are eight other applicants for that position, and they are all sicker than your man."
Office Seekers:
Faced with unending lines of office seekers eager to feed at the public trough, Lincoln somehow managed to keep his sense of humor. Returning from Gettysburg in the autumn of 1863, the president took to his sickbed wild a mild form of smallpox.
The patient seemed almost pleased when the doctors told him that his condition was highly contagious.
"Good," said Lincoln, doubtless thinking of the jobseekers infesting the White House. "Now at last I have something I can giver everyone." |