Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Richard S. Thomas, 1 January 18481
Washington, Jan^y 1– 1848.Dear Richard:
Your letter of the 23^rd Dec^r[December] is received, as also the Petition you mention–2 When documents become plenty, which they have not yet, I will send them to you– There is a good deal of diversity among the whigs here, as to who shall be their Candidate for the Presidency; but I think it will result in favor of Gen^l Taylor–3

As to M^r Graham's application for a Lieutenancy, I have already submitted it to the President, in the best way I could think of to give it chance of success–4 I wrote him about it; and do not know any thing more that I can do for him– You know I can have no intimacy with the President, which might give me personal influence with him–5
In great haste Yours as ever–A. Lincoln

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed the letter.

2Richard S. Thomas’ December 23, 1847 letter to Lincoln has not been located.

3In June 1848, Zachary Taylor received the Whig nomination as the party’s candidate in the presidential election of 1848.
Michael F. Holt, The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 329.

4On December 8, 1847, Abraham Lincoln submitted to President James K. Polk a recommendation and papers supporting Thomas Graham, Jr.’s application for a lieutenancy in the U.S. Army.

5Lincoln was a Whig, while President Polk was a Democrat. There is no evidence that Graham received a commission.