Hannibal Hamlin - Episode 3

[00:00:07] Hello everyone, welcome to the Almost Immortal History Podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Powers.

[00:00:13] Thanks for joining the third and final part of the Hannibal Hamlin story. When we left off in Part 2, just weeks into their term in office, Vice President Hamlin and President Lincoln witnessed the secession of the Southern states in the beginning of the American Civil War.

[00:00:27] Now facing an uncertain future, can Hamlin's character, influence and moral compass help win the war and whatever peace may look like on the other side?

[00:00:37] So sit back and enjoy the story's conclusion in today's episode of former United States Vice President Hannibal Hamlin.

[00:01:00] Hamlin, who had returned home to Hampton just days earlier, responded at once to calls from several officials to come to New York City.

[00:01:08] His advice and cooperation in public affairs are solicited by the legal authorities and people, read the urgent letter.

[00:01:14] Hamlin left immediately. In New York City, he met with officials from states loyal to the Union to help organize and mobilize them for war.

[00:01:21] He wrote to Maine's Governor Washburn urging that Maine's regiment be all well uniformed and equipped,

[00:01:26] and that Maine should act with all possible dispatch and have her regiment in the field at the earliest practicable moment.

[00:01:33] Hamlin personally inspected this regiment as they passed through New York City on their way to Washington.

[00:01:38] Hamlin sent a letter to President Lincoln apprising him of the

[00:01:42] woeful shortage of rifled cannon and urged their immediate development.

[00:01:47] Hamlin returned home to Maine on May 8th and continued his recruitment efforts.

[00:01:50] The 2nd Regiment in Maine was organized from many young men that Hamlin had watched grow up in Hampton, Bangor and the surrounding areas.

[00:01:58] Addressing the troops, he said,

[00:02:00] There should be no temporizing now, no going back in this contest between anarchy and freedom,

[00:02:06] and that he was ready to lay down his own life if the sacrifice was necessary.

[00:02:11] These were not just idle words, as Hamlin, the sitting vice president, enlisted as a private in the Maine militia.

[00:02:19] Despite his early actions and involvement, Hamlin soon realized what all vice presidents before him had.

[00:02:25] With no official duties apart from those assigned by the president, his role in the ongoing war effort and administration was limited.

[00:02:32] That said, he was not idle.

[00:02:34] After the Union soldiers were routed by the Confederates at the first battle of Bull Run in Manassas on July 21st,

[00:02:41] Hamlin, along with Senators Charles Sumner and Chandler, met with the president and urged him to use his war powers to free and arm slaves.

[00:02:49] Hamlin believed that slavery was the root cause of the war and the backbone of the Confederacy.

[00:02:55] If Lincoln were to free the slaves and allow them to fight, Hamlin believed it would bring a swift end to the war.

[00:03:01] While Lincoln agreed in principle, he had to consider the risk of additional states seceding.

[00:03:06] Since March, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee had followed the original seven into the Confederacy.

[00:03:13] Now, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were deeply divided whether to remain or not.

[00:03:18] Losing these states could mean the collapse of the Union.

[00:03:22] Hamlin wished Lincoln would move faster, but he deeply respected the president and understood the enormous challenges Lincoln faced.

[00:03:28] Hamlin also was true to his word, maintaining good relations with Lincoln and fully supporting him, even when they disagreed.

[00:03:35] The war was also deeply personal for Hamlin, as his two eldest sons, Charles and Cyrus, enlisted in 1862.

[00:03:42] Family weighed even more heavily on his mind that year, as he also welcomed a son, Frank, his second child with Ellen, who had born him Hannibal Jr. in 1858.

[00:03:53] Despite the diminished role of vice presidents, Hamlin did have influence.

[00:03:57] He would often consult me, Hamlin said of Lincoln.

[00:03:59] Lincoln even went so far as to ask Hamlin to become a consulting member of the president's cabinet, a role unprecedented for a vice president.

[00:04:07] One of Hamlin's main responsibilities was serving as a congressional sounding board.

[00:04:11] With his close ties to members of the Senate and House, he frequently heard complaints, concerns, or proposals that might conflict with the president's agenda.

[00:04:19] Hamlin worked to keep these issues away from Lincoln and exert influence with his fellow congressmen.

[00:04:25] While Hamlin was not involved in the day-to-day planning of the war, he did continue to offer Lincoln his counsel on a range of issues, such as his dissatisfaction with Union General George McClellan.

[00:04:35] Lincoln agreed, believing that McClellan was excellent at building and training an army, but moved too cautiously in battle.

[00:04:41] McClellan, said Hamlin to Lincoln, is the first man to build a bridge, but the last to cross it.

[00:04:47] A European foreign minister noted in a letter home that Hamlin and Lincoln appeared quite close and believed that did not bode well for General McClellan.

[00:04:55] It is known, said the minister, that the vice president belongs to the most spoken opponents of General McClellan.

[00:05:01] The minister's assessment proved true, as Lincoln relieved McClellan of his duties on November 5th, 1862, following the heavy casualties and indecisive result at the Battle of Antietam.

[00:05:12] Hamlin often urged Lincoln to go further and faster than Lincoln was ready for, especially on issues of emancipation and arming freed slaves.

[00:05:19] Lincoln, aware of Hamlin's reputation as more progressive on these key issues, once joked that Hamlin was his best insurance policy.

[00:05:26] Do you think that the Richmond people would like to have Hannibal Hamlin here any better than myself?

[00:05:31] In that one alternative, I have an insurance on my life worth half the prairie land in Illinois.

[00:05:38] On June 18th, 1862, Vice President Hamlin informed the president that he intended to leave for Maine that evening.

[00:05:45] With a wry smile, Lincoln responded,

[00:05:47] No, you don't intend to do anything of the sort.

[00:05:50] Oh, yes, but I do, replied a surprise Hamlin.

[00:05:53] No, said Lincoln, you do not intend to do anything of the sort.

[00:05:56] In fact, Mr. Vice President, you will not leave Washington at present.

[00:06:00] Realizing the president had something in mind, Hamlin offered,

[00:06:04] Of course I will not think of doing so if you wish otherwise.

[00:06:06] You are the commander-in-chief, and I am under orders.

[00:06:09] And I order you to sit in that chair, Lincoln said with a laugh, and afterwards, to ride with me to supper.

[00:06:16] The two rode horseback to the soldier's home, a cottage four miles north of the White House,

[00:06:21] used by Lincoln and Buchanan before him as a summer residence and quick escape from the formalities of the White House.

[00:06:27] After dinner, Lincoln invited Hamlin into the library and pulled a document from his desk drawer.

[00:06:33] Mr. Hamlin, you have been repeatedly urging me to issue a proclamation of emancipation freeing the slaves.

[00:06:39] I have concluded to yield to your advice in the matter and that of other friends, at the same time as I may say, following my own judgment.

[00:06:46] Now listen to me as I read this paper.

[00:06:48] We will correct it together as I go on.

[00:06:51] And so, the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to free four million slaves living in the Confederate States was read to Vice President Hannibal Hamlin.

[00:07:03] Deeply moved, Hamlin was reluctant to offer any criticism.

[00:07:07] When Lincoln finished reading, Hamlin simply said,

[00:07:09] There is no criticism to be made.

[00:07:11] Oh, yes there is, Lincoln said with a smile.

[00:07:14] At least you can make some suggestions.

[00:07:17] Hearing this, Hamlin offered three suggestions, two of which the President accepted.

[00:07:21] A month later, Lincoln shared this draft with his cabinet.

[00:07:25] He publicly issued it on September 22nd, 1862, declaring that if the Confederates did not lay down their arms by year's end, the proclamation would take effect.

[00:07:36] Sincere thanks for your Emancipation Proclamation, Hamlin wrote to Lincoln on September 25th.

[00:07:41] It will stand as the great act of the age.

[00:07:43] It will prove to be wise in statesmanship as it is patriotic.

[00:07:47] It will be enthusiastically approved and sustained, and future generations will, as I do, say God bless you for this great and noble act.

[00:07:57] Hamlin's words proved truer than he could have known.

[00:07:59] With the Confederacy determined to fight on, on January 1st, 1863, one of the most famous documents in American history took effect,

[00:08:08] declaring four million souls who had lived their entire lives in servitude, thenceforth and forever free.

[00:08:14] In addition to emancipation, many Republicans, including Hamlin and Secretary of War Stanton,

[00:08:20] continued to encourage Lincoln to arm free northern black men to take up arms, enabling them to fight for the Union.

[00:08:25] With the death toll climbing above 200,000 by 1863, enlistment was down across the Union Army.

[00:08:32] Hamlin, Stanton and others in Congress saw arming of black soldiers as empowering them to fight and help end the war.

[00:08:39] Lincoln remained cautious, feeling the public pulse, as he said, in the days following the issuing of the proclamation.

[00:08:45] Would the public be with their government taking so many bold steps so quickly?

[00:08:49] Lincoln got his answer just weeks later as a group of soldiers, led by Major Cyrus Hamlin, visited his father at his Washington, D.C. hotel room.

[00:08:57] They not only asked the Vice President if they could get an audience with the President to ask that he arm black soldiers,

[00:09:03] but they themselves were willing to train and lead those troops into battle.

[00:09:08] Many had called for the arming of black soldiers, but here was a group of officers ready to act.

[00:09:14] Hamlin set a meeting with Lincoln the following morning, riding to the White House with his son and the other officers.

[00:09:19] Lincoln was eager to meet with them, listening thoughtfully to their ideas.

[00:09:24] Impressed by their conviction, he wrote an order for the Union Army to form a brigade of black soldiers at once.

[00:09:30] Hamlin, Cyrus and the other officers thanked the President and rushed to deliver the order themselves to the Secretary of War.

[00:09:36] Upon hearing the news, Edwin Stanton suddenly and uncharacteristically embraced the Vice President saying,

[00:09:43] Thank God for this.

[00:09:46] Hamlin also traveled to several battlefronts to raise morale and listen to the needs of the officers and enlisted men.

[00:09:52] Not surprisingly, Hamlin took a special interest in the soldiers from Maine, helping to raise recruits and tend to their needs.

[00:09:58] In early 1863, he visited some of Maine's wounded in a Virginia hospital.

[00:10:03] I hate to go, as I dislike to see suffering when I can do nothing to alleviate it, Hannibal wrote to Ellen,

[00:10:09] but I must go, or they will mistake my motive and think I don't care for them.

[00:10:14] As Vice President, Hamlin's commitment to every soldier was sincere.

[00:10:18] Though as a father, none more so than his own two sons, Cyrus and Charles.

[00:10:23] Hamlin was keenly aware of each boy's location and scoured battle reports and casualty lists daily.

[00:10:29] The boys wrote when they could.

[00:10:31] In one note, Cyrus listed out what to do with his things if he should be killed.

[00:10:35] Upon reading notes like that, Hamlin,

[00:10:38] could not repress the tears that would come to my eyes, he confessed in a letter to Ellen.

[00:10:43] Hamlin, never one to be a mere bystander or stand on ceremony,

[00:10:47] enlisted in the Maine militia at the war's outset, opting for the rank of private rather than an officer's commission which he could have easily secured.

[00:10:56] When back in Maine, he would often drill and march with his fellow soldiers.

[00:11:00] But in 1864, Hamlin's company was called to duty at Fort McClary in Kittery, Maine.

[00:11:06] Although officers suggested he could forego the assignment, Hamlin insisted.

[00:11:10] I am Vice President, he said, but I am also a private citizen.

[00:11:14] And as an enlisted member of your company, I am bound to do my duty.

[00:11:18] For the first three of his 60-day call-up, the Vice President of the United States, Private Hamlin, stood guard each night without complaint.

[00:11:26] The officers could see he was not going to insist on any favors for himself

[00:11:30] and eventually stepped in to assign him as the company cook to keep him out of harm's way.

[00:11:35] As Hamlin served his country in Kittery, the 1864 political landscape back in Washington was fraught with tension and uncertainty.

[00:11:43] With Lincoln uncertain of re-election, and former Union General George McClellan now as the Democratic nominee running on a platform to end the war immediately,

[00:11:52] advisors suggested running on a National Unity Party ticket to join Republicans with pro-war Democrats.

[00:11:59] Rumors circulated that Lincoln should replace Hamlin with a war Democrat.

[00:12:03] Of several mentioned, Tennessee's provincial governor Andrew Johnson, who was the only United States Senator from the South to vote against secession, was considered the frontrunner.

[00:12:13] As Johnson's name circulated, most Hamlin supporters, and Hamlin himself, believed that the rumors were just that.

[00:12:19] However, during the Republican convention at the Front Street Theater in Baltimore, Maryland on June 7th,

[00:12:25] Johnson's name was put into nomination along with Hamlin's.

[00:12:29] After the first ballot, it was Johnson with 494 votes and Hamlin with only 9.

[00:12:36] No second ballot was needed.

[00:12:38] Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was now the vice presidential nominee for Abraham Lincoln's potential second term.

[00:12:45] This surprising change was made possible by a nation at war, an uncertain re-election, and the need to win over war Democrats.

[00:12:53] The change did not have anything to do with any shortcoming or any issue of Hannibal Hamlin's.

[00:12:59] A friend of Hamlin's present at the convention wrote to assure Hamlin that in his visit to Baltimore, I did not find one who was not your friend.

[00:13:07] Hamlin himself projected an outward calm, if not relief, at the decision.

[00:13:12] Be assured that I am in the best of spirits and ready to do my whole duty.

[00:13:16] I was in fact very indifferent about it as you know.

[00:13:19] I have no sore place about me, he wrote to a friend.

[00:13:22] In truth, other than some embarrassment at the surprise switch, Hamlin felt as he publicly stated, indifferent rather than upset.

[00:13:30] He had wished to remain in the Senate in 1860, but as someone who believed in and spoke often of doing his whole duty,

[00:13:37] he felt honor-bound not only to accept the vice presidency, but to do all he could in service of his country, his state, and his president, which he had now done.

[00:13:46] Whether President Lincoln desired or even requested the change remains debatable, though it is also true that had he felt strongly that Hamlin should remain on the ticket,

[00:13:55] he would have made his intentions known to the Baltimore convention attendees, ensuring that result.

[00:14:01] Hamlin quickly diffused any appearance of betrayal or awkwardness by campaigning for the Lincoln-Johnson ticket throughout the summer of 1864.

[00:14:09] Barnstorming his home state of Maine, Hamlin spoke in city after city.

[00:14:13] Observing his willingness to campaign, party leaders arranged for Hamlin to speak outside of Maine in states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio,

[00:14:20] where he received thunderous applause of appreciation and respect at each stop.

[00:14:26] Soon to be free of the vice presidency, Hamlin turned his attention back to reclaiming his favorite job, United States Senator from Maine.

[00:14:33] The problem for Hamlin, despite a seat up for election in 1864, was that it was occupied by his former colleague, Pitt Fessenden, perhaps the only figure in Maine politics as popular as Hamlin.

[00:14:44] Sensing this, President Lincoln attempted to assist by appointing Fessenden to his cabinet, but Fessenden pleaded with Lincoln not to do so, and Lincoln relented.

[00:14:53] There was even a push to have Lincoln appoint Fessenden Chief Justice of the United States, but this too failed.

[00:14:59] Fessenden remained in the Senate race and successfully blocked Hamlin.

[00:15:04] Suffering this second political setback didn't seem to dim Hamlin's spirits either.

[00:15:09] There is but one thing that disturbs me at all, Hamlin wrote to Ellen.

[00:15:12] I will not have the means to live upon as I have had.

[00:15:15] It would not affect me as it will affect you, and it is for yourself that I care, not for myself.

[00:15:22] A sympathetic President Lincoln remarked to Hamlin during this time that you have not been treated right.

[00:15:28] Not willing to renominate Hamlin as Vice President, or able to help him regain his old Senate seat, Lincoln set in motion plans to appoint Hamlin to a post in the second administration after inauguration.

[00:15:40] With continued Union momentum, culminating in General Sherman's capture of Atlanta, Lincoln's re-election became more certain.

[00:15:47] On election night, Lincoln defeated McClellan in an electoral landslide, 212 to 21.

[00:15:54] On Inauguration Day, March 3, 1865, outgoing Vice President Hamlin arrived by carriage at the Kirkwood House to meet incoming Vice President Andrew Johnson.

[00:16:04] As they rode to the Capitol, Hamlin could see that Johnson was unwell, recovering from a fever and a hangover from a party given in his honor the night before.

[00:16:12] I am now very weak and require all the strength I can get, Johnson told Hamlin, once inside the Vice President's office in the Capitol.

[00:16:19] Can you give me some good whiskey?

[00:16:21] Hamlin, who neither drank nor kept alcohol in his office, managed to obtain some from an Inauguration caterer.

[00:16:27] Upon receiving the whiskey, Johnson chugged a large glass.

[00:16:31] As they left for the ceremony, Hamlin saw Johnson take one more generous drink.

[00:16:36] Once seated in the Senate chamber, Hamlin spoke first, delivering what was later referred to as a very appropriate valedictory.

[00:16:43] He thanked the members for their kindness and cooperation, and with Union victory appearing imminent, Hamlin said,

[00:16:49] The sun of peace now dawning upon us will soon shed its rays upon a united and happy and a free people.

[00:16:57] Johnson spoke next.

[00:16:58] Whether due to nerves, illness, alcohol, or a combination, his speech was a disaster.

[00:17:06] I am a-goin' for to tell you here today, yes I am a-goin' for to tell you all, that I am a plebeian.

[00:17:13] I glory in it, I am a plebeian, he declared.

[00:17:17] The people. Yes, the people of the United States have made me what I am, and the people are everything.

[00:17:25] Later in his speech, he tried to thank three people.

[00:17:28] Mr. Seward, Johnson said.

[00:17:30] Mr. Stanton, and...

[00:17:33] You too, Mr...

[00:17:35] Unable to remember, leaning over and loudly whispering to the Senate secretary, Johnson stammered,

[00:17:40] What is the name of the Secretary of the Navy?

[00:17:43] The audience was stunned.

[00:17:45] Some hid their mortification better than others.

[00:17:49] Seward tried to appear serene, while Johnson's performance was too much for Secretary of War Stanton, who looked petrified.

[00:17:56] Gideon Wells, the Secretary of the Navy, who Johnson couldn't remember moments earlier, was described as having a blank expression,

[00:18:02] while other dignitaries looked angry, horrified, and some with dropped jaws.

[00:18:08] Hamlin, seated behind Johnson, attempted to help by tugging on Johnson's coattails to suggest concluding the speech, but Johnson continued.

[00:18:15] When it came time for the newly sworn-in Vice President to administer the oath of office to the Senators,

[00:18:21] Johnson only got a few words into the ceremony before turning to the Secretary again, handing him the Bible, and saying,

[00:18:28] Here, you swear them in. You know it better than I do.

[00:18:32] Hearing of Johnson's performance, Lincoln ensured that Johnson would not deliver any more remarks during Lincoln's second inaugural address outside.

[00:18:38] This decision helped to not overshadow what would become some of the most famous words uttered in American history.

[00:18:45] As Lincoln concluded his second inaugural by saying,

[00:18:49] With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God give us to see the right,

[00:18:56] let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle,

[00:19:04] and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

[00:19:14] In the days following the inauguration, Lincoln downplayed Johnson's performance to his staff, saying,

[00:19:19] I have known Andy for many years. He made a bad slip the other day. But you need not be scared. Andy ain't a drunkard.

[00:19:26] Days later, Hamlin even graciously tried to share the blame, telling a reporter,

[00:19:31] Perhaps I am responsible for this matter.

[00:19:33] Johnson is not an intemperate man. He is sober and in his right mind, and is the right man in the right place, and may God keep him and preserve him.

[00:19:42] Despite this, concerns lingered within Lincoln's cabinet and members of Congress.

[00:19:47] Hamlin said goodbye to President Lincoln and others on March 7th at the White House before beginning his journey back to Maine.

[00:19:53] Only weeks later, on April 9th, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.

[00:20:03] The following week, Mary Todd convinced her husband to celebrate the victory by attending one of his favorite plays, My American Cousin, at Ford's Theater.

[00:20:12] Coincidentally, Hannibal Hamlin's children, Sarah and Charles, and their spouses also decided to attend.

[00:20:18] With President Lincoln, the First Lady, and guest Major Rathbone and his wife in the President's box, the Hamlin children and other attendees seated below, the play began at 8 p.m. on April 14th.

[00:20:29] As the crowd roared with laughter, actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth slipped effortlessly into the theater, ascended to the President's suite, and waited just outside.

[00:20:40] Timing his entrance precisely, Booth waited for the play to reach its next moment of laughter, and then he struck.

[00:20:46] Entering the President's box, he raised his pistol, firing into the back of the President's head.

[00:20:50] After Major Rathbone tried to subdue him, Booth stabbed him in the arm before leaping to the stage and shouting,

[00:20:57] Sic Semper Tyrannis! Death to tyrants.

[00:21:00] Most of the audience, including Hamlin's children, initially believed this was part of the performance.

[00:21:06] The President was carried across the street to the Peterson House, where doctors attended to him.

[00:21:10] Despite their efforts, Lincoln succumbed to his wounds at 7.22 a.m. the next morning, April 15th.

[00:21:17] Present at the time of Lincoln's passing, a teary-eyed Secretary Stanton said,

[00:21:22] Now he belongs to the ages.

[00:21:25] A little more than a month in office, Andrew Johnson was now sworn in as the nation's 17th President.

[00:21:33] Hannibal Hamlin, just 42 days out of office, was walking near his home in Bangor when he learned the President was dead.

[00:21:39] Trying to console onlookers who had just read the news on a newspaper bulletin board,

[00:21:44] his voice choked, and tears streamed down his face.

[00:21:47] He was a good man.

[00:21:49] A great man, was all the grieving Hamlin could bring himself to say.

[00:21:54] Hamlin took the President's death as hard as anyone.

[00:21:56] He attended the funeral in Washington, D.C.,

[00:21:59] and to his friends and family, it appeared that he had lost his best friend.

[00:22:04] Standing next to the new President, Andrew Johnson, at the funeral,

[00:22:07] many could not help but notice the contrast between the two men,

[00:22:11] given how close Hamlin had come to the presidency himself.

[00:22:16] That summer, Hamlin accepted the government post that Lincoln had helped pave the way for,

[00:22:22] collector of the Port of Boston.

[00:22:24] As he told Ellen, he took the post mainly out of a need to earn money.

[00:22:28] He didn't love the work, but as with every job he ever held, he gave it his all.

[00:22:33] What troubled him far more than his own job was the job that Andrew Johnson was doing.

[00:22:39] Initially supportive, Hamlin's opinion changed quickly as he watched Johnson's decisions appear

[00:22:44] to unravel what he, Lincoln, and the Republican Party had envisioned for post-war Reconstruction.

[00:22:49] Lincoln had favored quick reunification of the South,

[00:22:52] contingent on citizens taking a loyalty oath to the Union,

[00:22:55] forming new state governments, and abolishing slavery.

[00:22:58] Johnson, by contrast, also favored quick reunification,

[00:23:02] but was far more lenient towards the South,

[00:23:05] particularly Confederate leadership,

[00:23:06] granting pardons and allowing wartime state leaders to remain in place.

[00:23:11] He was also far less enthusiastic about the rights of the newly freed Black citizens.

[00:23:16] Johnson vetoed civil rights legislation, including the 14th Amendment,

[00:23:20] guaranteeing citizenship and equal protection under law for former slaves.

[00:23:24] Congress overrode Johnson's veto,

[00:23:26] and the legislation became law despite his opposition.

[00:23:30] We have sad times, Hamlin wrote to a friend, expressing his disbelief over Johnson's actions.

[00:23:35] I look at the events of the past few days in utter amazement,

[00:23:38] and with such sorrow as I have never felt at any political moment of my life.

[00:23:43] When another friend asked how he would have responded,

[00:23:46] had he been president instead of Johnson, Hamlin replied,

[00:23:49] I rejoice that the responsibilities you name are not devolved upon me,

[00:23:53] but if I were president, rest assured, with the assistance of Providence,

[00:23:57] I would be true to the great principles of justice to all men,

[00:24:00] as well as equality of rights to all.

[00:24:03] Hamlin's disagreements and disappointment with Johnson was so strong

[00:24:06] that he resigned as port collector to make clear his opposition to the Johnson administration.

[00:24:11] The decision was met with great appreciation from the Republicans,

[00:24:15] who were opposing Johnson at every turn.

[00:24:17] The majority of Americans agreed with Hamlin,

[00:24:19] voting to send even more Republicans to Congress,

[00:24:22] culminating in charging impeachment articles against President Johnson.

[00:24:27] Hamlin was invited to speak throughout the country

[00:24:29] and given thunderous ovations wherever he went.

[00:24:32] We are awaiting with great anxiety for the decision of the Senate on the impeachment,

[00:24:36] wrote Hamlin on May 3rd, 1868.

[00:24:38] It will be a sad day indeed for the country,

[00:24:41] if Johnson shall be acquitted and escape the punishment due to him.

[00:24:45] Johnson was impeached in the House, but fell one vote short in the Senate.

[00:24:50] With Hamlin's star again on the rise,

[00:24:52] Maine began to consider one of its favorite sons for the Senate again.

[00:24:56] Many Maine Republicans realized that had they sent Hamlin to the Senate in 1864,

[00:25:01] the outcome of the impeachment might have been different,

[00:25:04] as their senator, Pitt Fessenden, had voted to acquit Johnson.

[00:25:08] In the election of 1868,

[00:25:11] Hamlin was chosen over sitting Republican senator and former governor, Lott Murill.

[00:25:15] Returning once more to the job he most desired,

[00:25:18] Hannibal Hamlin resumed his Senate seat,

[00:25:21] where he was immediately regarded as one of the most influential members.

[00:25:36] The Senate had changed significantly since Hamlin left nearly 10 years earlier.

[00:25:43] Gone were the Southern senators who had left the Union, as well as other prominent figures.

[00:25:48] One notable change that surely pleased Hamlin was that the former Senate seat from Mississippi,

[00:25:54] once held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis,

[00:25:57] was now held by Hiram Revels,

[00:25:59] the first black member of Congress in the nation's history.

[00:26:03] Hamlin was appointed chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,

[00:26:07] one of Congress's most powerful committees.

[00:26:09] During his tenure, he took a courageous stand against many in his party by opposing the Chinese Exclusion Bill,

[00:26:15] which would have suspended immigration from China for 20 years.

[00:26:18] I am a political partisan, Hamlin said.

[00:26:21] I have been one my life long.

[00:26:23] But partisanship had no place in a matter where the nation's honor was at stake.

[00:26:27] As the motto says,

[00:26:29] without fear and without reproach.

[00:26:32] This singular act of statesmanship may well have been one of Hamlin's finest public moments,

[00:26:36] but it was his domestic efforts in partnership with President Grant that made Hamlin most proud.

[00:26:41] Passing key civil rights legislation in direct response to the violence growing

[00:26:45] from a new domestic terrorist organization calling themselves the KKK.

[00:26:50] Congress and President Grant also passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875,

[00:26:55] ensuring all citizens, regardless of race,

[00:26:58] equal access to public accommodations and transportation,

[00:27:01] as well as the 15th Amendment to the Constitution,

[00:27:04] guaranteeing all men, regardless of race, the right to vote.

[00:27:07] Hamlin would serve two terms until 1881.

[00:27:10] At age 71, and after a political career spanning six decades,

[00:27:15] he was ready to step back from politics.

[00:27:17] However, he delayed his retirement for one more year

[00:27:19] when incoming President James A. Garfield's Secretary of State

[00:27:23] and Hamlin's good friend and fellow Mainer, James G. Blaine,

[00:27:26] asked Hamlin to serve as ambassador to Spain.

[00:27:29] Hamlin accepted, viewing the appointment as an honor

[00:27:32] and recognition of my services of my public life.

[00:27:35] He was also excited to visit Europe for the first time,

[00:27:38] and so he did, spending 18 happy months in Madrid with Ellen by his side.

[00:27:44] In a letter to his youngest son, Frank,

[00:27:46] Hamlin described their official introduction to the King and Queen of Spain.

[00:27:49] I think you would have laughed heartily to have seen your plain Republican father

[00:27:53] toted along with all these trappings of royalty, mused Hamlin in his letter.

[00:27:58] But then it was all in accordance with established custom and had to be performed.

[00:28:02] There was nothing for me to do but submit, look on and reflect, as you may be sure I did.

[00:28:08] Though Hamlin loved his time in Europe, being away made him even prouder to be an American.

[00:28:12] I do not fail to make comparisons between this and our own dear Republican government.

[00:28:18] I am sure I shall return home loving my own dear country far better than when I left it.

[00:28:24] Returning home to Bangor in 1883, Hannibal settled into a content retirement with Ellen.

[00:28:29] His oldest son, Charles, and his family lived nearby,

[00:28:32] and Hamlin, already a grandfather, became a great-grandfather

[00:28:36] when Charles' son, Charles Eugene, had a daughter, Louisa.

[00:28:40] Hannibal spent most of his time enjoying his favorite hobbies,

[00:28:44] farming, trout fishing, and reading biographies of American statesmen

[00:28:47] and the novels of James Fenimore Cooper.

[00:28:50] He helped to found the Taratine Club of Bangor, a social organization,

[00:28:54] becoming one of the club's first presidents.

[00:28:56] He could be found there on most days playing cards with fellow club members.

[00:29:00] While he rarely left his beloved Maine,

[00:29:02] he did travel back to Washington to attend the dedication of the Washington Monument in 1888.

[00:29:07] In one of Hamlin's last public appearances,

[00:29:11] he spoke at a Lincoln banquet and received an emotional standing ovation

[00:29:14] when introduced as the surviving standard-bearer of 1860.

[00:29:19] During his remarks, Hamlin urged that Lincoln's birthday become a national holiday.

[00:29:24] If Washington secured our liberty, said Hamlin,

[00:29:27] Lincoln just as surely preserved it.

[00:29:30] In 1825, former President John Adams, nearing the end of his life,

[00:29:35] was visited by Ralph Waldo Emerson, then a recent graduate of Harvard.

[00:29:39] During their conversation, Adams remarked,

[00:30:05] Adams would have been very pleased to see his wish realized in the character, actions, and life of him.

[00:30:12] For all the two New Englanders, Hamlin and Adams had in common,

[00:30:17] they would share yet one more.

[00:30:19] John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, referred to as the voice and pen of the Declaration of Independence,

[00:30:24] died on the same day.

[00:30:25] But it wasn't just any day.

[00:30:27] It was on July 4th.

[00:30:29] But not just any July 4th.

[00:30:31] It was July 4th, 1826,

[00:30:34] the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Declaration,

[00:30:37] the document each man was most responsible for creating and passing into existence.

[00:30:43] 65 years later to the day, on July 4th, 1891,

[00:30:48] Hannibal Hamlin walked the short trip from his Bangor home overlooking the Penobscot River,

[00:30:53] down the hill to the Tarantino Club,

[00:30:55] to play his customary games of whist and Pedro.

[00:30:58] At one point, Hamlin complained of pain in his back, but played on.

[00:31:03] A short while later, his fellow card players saw him suddenly turn purple and clutch at his chest.

[00:31:09] His friends tried to make him comfortable, but he soon lost consciousness.

[00:31:13] Hamlin was taken home, where his son Charles informed the doctor

[00:31:16] that his father had experienced these symptoms before

[00:31:19] and was hoping they would be treatable now.

[00:31:21] Hamlin awoke briefly to hear Charles telling him

[00:31:24] that they would place him on the bed to make him more comfortable.

[00:31:27] Very well, said Hamlin.

[00:31:29] Later that day, Hannibal told the doctor that he was, quote,

[00:31:32] burning up.

[00:31:33] Those would be some of his last words.

[00:31:35] At 8.15 p.m., Hannibal Hamlin died,

[00:31:39] quietly and peacefully,

[00:31:40] surrounded by his family in his beloved home of Maine.

[00:31:43] He was 81 years old.

[00:31:47] From the time Hannibal Hamlin was a boy,

[00:31:50] he exhibited the traits that would define him throughout his honorable life

[00:31:53] and service to his country.

[00:31:55] Whether in law, state, national, or international politics,

[00:32:00] Hamlin always spoke proudly of doing his whole duty,

[00:32:03] which anyone who knew him would firmly agree with.

[00:32:06] In an era of conflicting passions,

[00:32:09] Hamlin's calm, pragmatic, but clear leadership

[00:32:12] helped him become one of the most influential people in America.

[00:32:16] One can only wonder what post-America would have been like

[00:32:19] under Hannibal Hamlin's leadership rather than Andrew Johnson's,

[00:32:22] but it is without question that the nation and all who knew him

[00:32:26] benefited immeasurably from what he was able to do

[00:32:30] in his many decades of service to his country.

[00:32:33] Thank you.