Annotation
[1] ALS, owned by Alfred W. Stern, Chicago, Illinois. Hooker was called to the White House for an interview, and this letter presumably was handed to him at that time. It remained unknown until after Hooker's death in 1879, and the circumstances of the interview, as well as Hooker's reception of the president's views, have not been adequately recorded. All accounts known to the editors reveal an abundance of conjecture and rationalized recollection after the fact.