Lincoln (126 page)

“THIS REMINDS ME OF A LITTLE JOKE” This cartoon, from
Harper’s Weekly
of September 17, 1864, suggests how insignificant McClellan’s candidacy seemed in the weeks before the presidential election.

Meserve-Kunhardt Collection

Lincoln’s 1864 running mate, Andrew Johnson

Chicago Historical Society

“LONG ABRAHAM LINCOLN A LITTLE LONGER”
Harper’s Weekly
of November 26, 1864, indicates how the presidential election enhanced Lincoln’s stature.

The Lincoln Museum, Fort Wayne, Indiana (#1942)

“THE PEACE MAKERS” As the war drew to a close, Lincoln visited Grant’s army in Virginia, and there, aboard the
River Queen,
he conferred with Grant, W. T. Sherman, who came up from North Carolina, and Admiral David D. Porter about the terms for ending the fighting. This painting by George P. A. Healy, which hangs in the White House, was one of President George Bush’s favorites.

Collection of the white House

General Ulysses S. Grant

Chicago Historical Society

Taken by Alexander Gardner in Washington on November 8, 1863, this profile view shows how Lincoln had matured as President into a benign, self-assured leader who (despite the admonitions of the photographer to make absolutely no movement) dared venture a small smile.

Collection of The New-York Historical Society

LINCOLN ENTERS THE CITY OF RICHMOND, APRIL 4, 1865

This engraving, published in 1866, shows Lincoln, accompanied by Tad, as he ventured into the capital of the Confederacy escorted by only a handful of Marines. He received a boisterous welcome from the former slaves, but most white Virginians remained behind closed windows.

Library of Congress

Abraham Lincoln, February 5, 1865. The weariness in this portrait by Alexander Gardner reveals how much the overwork and anxiety of four years of war had cost Lincoln.

Meserve-Kunhardt Collection

John Wilkes Booth

Chicago Historical Society

“THE LAST OFFER OF RECONCILIATION” This 1865 lithograph, by Kimmel & Forster, imagines a scene in which Lincoln, backed by Seward, Stanton, Grant, and other Union officers, stretches out the hand of friendship to Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. The goddess of Liberty looks on approvingly, while an African-American rejoices in his new freedom. Though the scene is entirely fictitious, it captures the generous spirit that animated Lincoln’s Reconstruction policies.