March 20, 1861 (Wednesday)

Budding

A fascinating article today on the relationship of Abraham Lincoln and Henry J. Raymond, founder and editor of The New York Times.  This was one of the most important relationships Lincoln had with the press during his Presidency.  However, at this time between his inauguration and the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, the relationship between these two men became testy... a few excerpts follow below.  To read all the details of this relationship, go to the following narrative at the link provided:  "A Very Mad-Man," by Ted Widmer, Disunion--New York Times, March 19, 2011.

"The Times and Lincoln were helpful to each other on their way up, and that newspapers were anything but gray ladies as the conflict drew closer.  It also shows that their symbiotic relationship was seriously strained in the weeks between the inaugural on March 4 and the outbreak of war on April 12.  Like so many presidents since then, Lincoln found that The Times was getting on his nerves."

"...these two defenders of the Union also managed to irritate each other in the tense days leading up to the outbreak of war.  In the weeks after the inaugural, Lincoln immersed himself in the necessary tedium of filling government offices, and Raymond finally erupted in an editorial entitled "Wanted -- A Policy!"  'It is idle to conceal the fact that the Administration thus far has not met public expectation.'  The times huffed, and it got worse from there, using italics to convey the full force of disapproval:  'the fact is, our Government has done absolutely nothing, ... it allows everything to drift.'  The last sentence was the worst:  'In a great crisis like this, there is no policy so fatal as that of having no policy at all.'   Lincoln clipped the editorial, along with several others, and filed them under 'villainous articles.' "   (More on this on April 3rd.)


New York had three main newspapers during the Civil War:  The New York Herald, The New York Tribune, and The New York Times.  At the link below, an article on the relationships of these three newspapers with President Lincoln, their personal histories and biases, and the in-fighting between them gives us some context in which to read these articles from the 1860's.  I found this very informative.  "Mr. Lincoln and New York," The Lincoln Institute. 


On another note:  Hat tip The Lincoln Log:  "Willie and Tad Lincoln have measles."