Existing comment:
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase:
Tall, heavyset, and inclined to take himself very seriously, this Ohio Democrat-turned-Republican had known more than his share of personal tragedy. Death had claimed all three of his wives and four of six children. No one questioned his courage: a passionate foe of slavery, Chase had risked bodily harm to defend fugitive slaves fleeing Kentucky for Ohio.
Egged on by his bewitching daughter Kate, his ambition to be president was on a par with his anti-slavery fervor. Lacking a sense of humor, he resented Lincoln for having one, declaring pompously, "I have never been able to make a joke out of this war." Though he appreciated Chase's skilled management of the nation's wartime finances, Lincoln found him a prickly ally |