Word: douglass
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...When Douglass entered the White House, the stairway was filled with applicants, all of them white men. He thought he would have to wait all day, but within two minutes of sending up his card, a messenger called for him. As he elbowed his way up the stairs, he heard someone remark, "Yes, damn it, I knew they would let the n_____ through...
When Lincoln saw Douglass, he rose to greet him. "Mr. Douglass, I know you; I have read about you ... Sit down, I am glad to see you." He referred to Douglass's attack on his "tardy, hesitating, vacillating policy" and acknowledged that at times he might seem slow to act. But he denied wavering: "When I have once taken a position, I have [never] retreated from it." After hearing Douglass's complaints, Lincoln assured him that black soldiers would eventually receive the same pay as white soldiers, and he promised to sign any promotion for blacks that the Secretary...
...Douglass came away from the meeting deeply moved and resumed recruiting. What most impressed him was Lincoln's honesty and sincerity--"there was no vain pomp and ceremony about him ... In his company I was never in any way reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color." He sensed a kindred spirit in Lincoln, someone "whom I could love, honor, and trust without reserve or doubt." The respect was mutual; Lincoln regarded Douglass as "one of the most meritorious men, if not the most meritorious man, in the United States...
Through the recruiting controversy, Lincoln had also realized that he badly needed Douglass. It would be a virtually impossible task without him, and without blacks on Lincoln's side, he could scarcely win the war and preserve the Union. Many of his generals felt that "the emancipation policy, and the use of colored troops, constitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion," Lincoln noted...
...year later, in August 1864, Lincoln decided that he needed Douglass again and requested a second, urgent meeting with him. He was dejected about Northern opposition to the war and his gloomy prospects for re-election. Almost everyone, it seemed, wanted peace, and most people felt that Lincoln's antislavery policy prevented a peaceful settlement with the Confederacy. Conservatives had nominated McClellan for President, and Lincoln was worried that if he failed to be re-elected, there would be a negotiated peace with slavery still intact. He had a plan, but Douglass had to help him carry...