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Prev Lincoln requests a female friend to come to Springfield: Dec. 11, 1839 Lincoln plans to accuse a political opponent of being pro-black: April 17, 1840 Lincoln writes about his family: March 6, 1848 Lincoln on political patronage: May 16, 1849 Lincoln on the new Republican Party: ca. Feb. 1857 Lincoln responds to admirer of the Lincoln-Douglas debates: Jan. 8, 1859 Excerpt of Lincoln speech against slavery: 1859 Excerpt from House Divided speech: 1860 Engraving of Lincoln’s Cooper Union portrait: 1861 Lincoln needs to discuss Fort Sumter: March 9, 1861 War Declared!! Friends of the South and justice, to arms!!:1861 Hopkins New Orleans 5 Cent Song-Book: ca. 1861 Lincoln plans a military campaign: ca. Oct. 1, 1861 Lincoln’s notes on recruiting black soldiers: ca. July 22, 1862 Abraham and Mary Lincoln recommend Thomas Stackpole: Sept. 30, 1862 Emancipation Proclamation: January 1863 Lincoln proposes a military plan to General Halleck: October 24, 1863 Order of procession for the inauguration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg: 1863 Lincoln pardons four young Confederates: March 21, 1864 Manuscript of Lincoln’s Baltimore Address, ca. April 1864 Signed photograph of Lincoln: ca. 1864 A Confederate prisoner requests pardon: Nov. 9, 1864 A man accused of conspiracy appeals to Lincoln: January 29, 1865 Lincoln gives William Seward front-line battle news, April 1, 1865 Lincoln writes to Grant in the final days of the war: April 6, 1865 Ford’s Theatre Playbill: 1865 Account of Lincoln’s death from a foreigner: April 1865 Newspaper coverage of Lincoln’s assassination: April 17, 1865 Newspaper coverage of Lincoln’s funeral: April 20, 1865 Jefferson Davis hopes Lincoln’s death will inspire the South: April 20, 1865 Lincoln mourning badge: 1865 Lincoln’s law partner insists Lincoln was an infidel: October 29, 1881 Next

Lincoln on political patronage: May 16, 1849

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Introduction

This letter deals with a very important but little understood aspect of nineteenth-century politics, namely, patronage.  Before the advent of the Civil Service at the end of the century, most jobs in the federal government - from ambassador to file clerk - were filled by political appointment, and the scramble for office after a successful election could be unedifying and very intense.

Abraham Lincoln, autograph letter signed to William B. Preston
Springfield, 16 May 1849
AMs 365/19.2

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