captivatedthepopularimagination。TheterribleCommitteewerehisfriends。Militarymenthoughthimfullofpromise。
Onthewhole，Lincoln，whosawthewisdomoffollowinguphisclashovertheCabinetbyaconcessiontotheJacobins，waswillingtotakehischanceswithHooker。
Hisintimateadviserswerenotofthesamemind。Theyknewthattherewasmuchtalkonthethemeofapossibledictator-nottheconstitutionaldictatorofLincolnandStevens，buttheold-fashioneddictatorofhistoricalmelodrama。
Hookerwasreportedtohaveencouragedsuchtalk。AllthisgreatlyalarmedoneofLincoln’smostdevotedhenchmen——Lamon，MarshaloftheDistrictofColumbia，whoregardedhimselfaspersonallyresponsibleforLincoln’ssafety。“InconversationwithMr。Lincoln，“saysLamon，“onenightaboutthetimeGeneralBurnsidewasrelieved，Iwasurginguponhimthenecessityoflookingwelltothefactthattherewasaschemeonfoottodeposehim，andtoappointamilitarydictatorinhisstead。Helaughedandsaid，’Ithink，foramanofaccreditedcourage，youarethemostpanickypersonIeverknew；youcanseemoredangerstomethanalltheotherfriendsIhave。Youareallthetimeexercisedaboutsomebodytakingmylife；murderingme；andnowyouhavediscoveredanewdanger；nowyouthinkthepeopleofthisgreatgovernmentarelikelytoturnmeoutofoffice。IdonotfearthisfromthepeopleanymorethanIfearassassinationfromanindividual。
NowtoshowmyappreciationofwhatmyFrenchfriendswouldcallacoupd’etat，letmereadyoualetterIhavewrittentoGeneralHookerwhomIhavejustappointedtothecommandofthearmyofthePotomac。“[9]