Sixteenth
President-in-Waiting:
Abraham Lincoln and the
Springfield Dispatches of
Henry Villard, 1860–1861
Abraham Lincoln and the
Springfield Dispatches of
Henry Villard, 1860–1861
Edited by Michael
Burlingame
Between Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and his
departure for Washington three months later, journalist Henry Villard sent
scores of dispatches from Springfield, Illinois, to various newspapers
describing the president-elect’s doings, quoting or paraphrasing his
statements, chronicling events in the Illinois capital, and analyzing the
city’s mood. With Sixteenth President-in-Waiting Michael Burlingame has
collected all of these dispatches in one insightful and informative volume.
Best known as a successful nineteenth-century railroad promoter and financier,
German-born Henry Villard (1835–1900) was also among the most conscientious and
able journalists of the 1860s. The dispatches gathered in this volume
constitute the most intensive journalistic coverage that Lincoln ever received,
for Villard filed stories from the Illinois capital almost daily to the New
York Herald, slightly less often to the Cincinnati Commercial, and
occasionally to the San Francisco Bulletin.
Lincoln welcomed Villard and encouraged him to ask questions, as he was the
only full-time correspondent for out-of-town papers. He spoke with inside
sources, such as Lincoln’s private secretaries John G. Nicolay and John Hay,
devoted friends like Jesse K. Dubois and Stephen T. Logan, political leaders
like Governor Richard Yates, and journalists like William M. Springer and
Robert R. Hitt.
Villard boasted that he did Lincoln a service by scaring off would-be office
seekers who, fearing to see their names published in newspapers, gave up plans
to visit the Illinois capital to badger the president-elect. Villard may have
done an even greater service by publicizing Lincoln’s views on the secession
crisis.
His little-known coverage of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Senate race, translated from
the German for the first time, is included as an appendix. At the time Villard
was an ardent Douglas supporter, and his reports criticized Lincoln.
Not only informative but also highly readable, Villard’s vivid descriptions of
Lincoln’s appearance, daily routine, and visitors, combined with fresh
information about Springfielders, state political leaders, and the capital, constitute
an invaluable resource.
About the Author
Michael Burlingame is the author of Abraham
Lincoln: A Life, The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln
and the Civil War and the editor of many collections of Lincoln primary
source materials. He is the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln
Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield.
ISBN 978-0809336432, Southern Illinois University Press, ©
2018, Hardcover, 424 pages, Appendix, End Notes & Index. $45.50. To
purchase this book click HERE.