Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

====Personnel====
{{Main|Presidency of Abraham Lincoln#Foreign policy|Diplomacy of the American Civil War}}
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
| Name = Lincoln
| President = Abraham Lincoln
| President date = 1861–1865
| Vice President = [[Hannibal Hamlin]]
| Vice President date = 1861–1865
| Vice President 2 = [[Andrew Johnson]]
| Vice President date 2 = 1865
| State = [[William H. Seward]]
| State date = 1861–1865
| Treasury = [[Salmon P. Chase]]
| Treasury date = 1861–1864
| Treasury 2 = [[William P. Fessenden]]
| Treasury date 2 = 1864–1865
| Treasury 3 = [[Hugh McCulloch]]
| Treasury date 3 = 1865
| War = [[Simon Cameron]]
| War date = 1861–1862
| War 2 = [[Edwin M. Stanton]]
| War date 2 = 1862–1865
| Justice = [[Edward Bates]]
| Justice date = 1861–1864
| Justice 2 = [[James Speed]]
| Justice date 2 = 1864–1865
| Post = [[Montgomery Blair]]
| Post date = 1861–1864
| Post 2 = [[William Dennison Jr.]]
| Post date 2 = 1864–1865
| Navy = [[Gideon Welles]]
| Navy date = 1861–1865
| Interior = [[Caleb Blood Smith]]
| Interior date = 1861–1862
| Interior 2 = [[John Palmer Usher]]
| Interior date 2 = 1863–1865

| source =<ref>{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/abraham-lincoln-administration|publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia|title=Abraham Lincoln: administration|date=December 16, 2016 }}</ref>
}}

In the selection and use of his cabinet Lincoln employed the strengths of his rivals in a manner that emboldened his presidency. Lincoln commented on his thought process, "We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services."{{sfn|Goodwin|2005|p=319}} Goodwin described the group in her biography of Lincoln as a ''[[Team of Rivals]]''.{{sfn|Goodwin|2005}} Lincoln named his main political opponent, William H. Seward, as Secretary of State.{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 1 p. 722}} However, Lincoln quickly appointed some top diplomats directly "to counteract Confederate efforts at gaining recognition from European nations".{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 p. 93}}

Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known."{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=471}} Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. [[Noah Haynes Swayne]] was against slavery and a prominent corporate lawyer.{{sfn|Silver|1998|p=59}} [[Samuel Freeman Miller]] was an avowed abolitionist and received widespread support from Iowa politicians.{{sfn|Silver|1998|pp=64&ndash;65}} David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced.{{sfn|Silver|1998|p=74}} Democrat [[Stephen Johnson Field]], a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance.{{sfn|Silver|1998|pp=88&ndash;89}} Finally, Lincoln appointed his Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, as Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist who would support Reconstruction legislation and that his appointment would unite the Republican Party.{{sfn|Blue|1987|p=245}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Supreme Court Justices<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm|publisher=United States Senate|accessdate=April 26, 2025|title=Supreme Court nominations (1789&ndash;present)}}</ref>
!Justice
!Nominated
!Appointed
|-
|[[Noah Haynes Swayne]]
|January 21, 1862
|January 24, 1862
|-
|[[Samuel Freeman Miller]]
|July 16, 1862
|July 16, 1862
|-
|[[David Davis (Supreme Court justice)|David Davis]]
|December 1, 1862
|December 8, 1862
|-
|[[Stephen Johnson Field]]
|March 6, 1863
|March 10, 1863
|-
|[[Salmon P. Chase|Salmon Portland Chase]] (Chief Justice)
|December 6, 1864
|December 6, 1864
|}