The Foreign Policy of Abraham Lincoln by Harvey Sicherman

April 1, 1861, must rank as one of the most amazing April Fool's Days in our history. For on that day,
Seward did two things. He wrote a letter to Lincoln, saying that it was clear that despite the crisis there
was no policy direction in the Cabinet. So Seward proposed that while Lincoln remain President, he
should announce that, henceforth, the conduct of affairs would be controlled by the undersigned, Mr.
Seward. Now on that same day, Lincoln had authorized the preparation of an expedition in New York to
reinforce Fort Sumter. There was another fort, Fort Pickens in Florida, that was also in danger, but Fort
Sumter was in much worse shape. Seward thought it was a very bad idea to reinforce Sumter, lest this
provoke a war. Consequently, he promptly had orders written out in the name of the Secretary of War and
the President of the United States indicating that the expedition should go to Fort Pickens. He slipped the
papers among others that were full of appointments, and taking advantage of Lincolns busy schedule,
insisted that all had to be signed immediately, which Lincoln did, unaware of their contents. Apprised by
the secretary of the navy of the change, Lincoln later countermanded the order.

Now, just imagine all of this happening on the same day, and yet Lincoln did not fire Seward! Instead, he
wrote a letter to him saying in effect that yes, it was true that there should be one person in charge of
giving the lead and, as Lincoln put it, "I suppose that person is me." He thanked Seward for his advice
and signed off. Nor did he chastise Seward for the substitution of the papers. Judging that Seward's
dismissal at that point would have been catastrophic for his political situation, he did something else,
defended him to the Cabinet while taking the blame because he'd been careless in examining his papers.
This saved Seward's honor and cemented their relationship. And it would not be the last time that Lincoln
would defend him. Confronted with the kind of insubordination that must have boiled his blood, Lincoln
subordinated his emotions to his principle of unity.

Sicherman, Harvey. "The Foreign Policy of Abraham Lincoln." Foreign Policy Research Institute.
ORBIS, July 2011. Web. 28 July 2016.