In the newly-appointed Cabinet were two men who, in popular estimate, were expected to take the lead—­Chase, of Ohio, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Seward, of New York, Secretary of State.  Both were experienced in political matters and both stood high in the esteem of the anti-slavery element in the North, but Seward, all things considered, was regarded as the logical leading member of the Cabinet.  He had been the favoured candidate for Republican Presidential nomination in 1860, making way for Lincoln only on the theory that the latter as less Radical on anti-slavery, could be more easily elected.  Also, he now held that position which by American tradition was regarded as the highest in the Cabinet.

In fact, everyone at Washington regarded it as certain that Seward would determine the policy of the new administration.  Seward’s own attitude is well summed up in a despatch to his Government, February 18, 1861, by Rudolph Schleiden, Minister from the Republic of Bremen.  He described a conversation with Seward in regard to his relations with Lincoln: 

“Seward, however, consoled himself with the clever remark, that there is no great difference between an elected president of the United States and an hereditary monarch.  The latter is called to the throne through the accident of birth, the former through the chances which make his election possible.  The actual direction of public affairs belongs to the leader of the ruling party, here as well as in any hereditary principality.

“The future President is a self-made man and there is therefore as little doubt of his energy as of his proverbial honesty (’honest old Abe’).  It is also acknowledged that he does not lack common sense.  But his other qualities for the highest office are practically unknown.  His election may therefore be readily compared with a lottery.  It is possible that the United States has drawn the first prize, on the other hand the gain may only have been a small one.  But unfortunately the possibility is not excluded that it may have been merely a blank.”

The first paragraph of this quotation reports Seward’s opinion; the second is apparently Schleiden’s own estimate.  Two weeks later Schleiden sent home a further analysis of Lincoln: 

“He makes the impression of a natural man of clear and healthy mind, great good-naturedness and best intentions.  He seems to be fully conscious of the great responsibility which rests upon him.  But at the same time it appears as if he had lost some of his famous firmness and resoluteness through the novelty of the conditions which surround him and the hourly renewed attempts from various sides to gain influence over him.  He is therefore at present inclined to concede double weight to the superior political experience of his Secretary of State[200].”

This was written on March 4, and the situation was correctly described.  Seward led for the moment,