Memorandum of Interview with William P. Fessenden1Jump to section
Washington, July 4, 1864.
I have to-day said to Hon. W. P. Fessenden, on his assuming the office of Secretary of the Treasury, that I will keep no person in office in his department, against his express will, so long as I choose to continue him; and he has said to me, that in filling vacancies he will strive to give his willing consent to my wishes in cases when I may let him know that I have such wishes. It is, and will be, my sincere desire, not only to advance the public interest, by giving him complete control of the department, but also to make his position agreeable to him.
In Cabinet my view is that in questions affecting the whole country there should be full and frequent consultations, and that nothing should be done particularly affecting any department without consultation with the head of that department.
Annotation
[1] Francis Fessenden, Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden (1907), I, 324-25. According to the source this memorandum in Lincoln's autograph is preserved in the Fessenden Papers.