Existing comment:
Postmaster General Montgomery Blair:
In the 19th century, the position of Postmaster General was often given to the governing party's key supporter. The Postmaster was seen as largely a figurehead, but he had one vital responsibility: to dispense patronage -- lucrative local positions -- to other party loyalists.
Blair came from a political family. His father, Francis P. Blair, had been an intimate friend and adviser to Andrew Jackson. Montgomery relocated to Missouri, where he achieved fame as court counsel for Fred Scott, the fugitive slave at the center of a controversial Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to slavery's territorial expansion. Many Republicans disapproved of Lincoln's invitation for Montgomery to join his Cabinet. But the president, desperate to appease the border states, held firm against the protests. |