Politics & Power Quote by Salmon P. Chase

A consummate piece of Washington praise that doubles as a velvet glove over a clenched fist. Chase is not just complimenting a president; he is trying to shape the record of presidential behavior in real time. The sentence performs two political tasks at once: it flatters the executive as fair-minded and, by declaring himself "fully satisfies me", it signals that Chase is prepared to stand down - or at least pause the fight - so long as the process looks legitimate.

The key word is "satisfies". It carries the faint odor of cross-examination: you have met the standard, you have answered the charge. Chase frames the president's response as "kind and candid consideration" to "every proposition", language that quietly insists there were serious proposals on the table, not mere gripes. That matters in the mid-19th-century Republican coalition, where rival power centers (Cabinet, Congress, party bosses) constantly negotiated who was steering the war, the patronage, and emancipation.

Then comes the clincher: "clearly and distinctly". Chase is lauding clarity, but also pinning the president to a stated "conclusion". In a government where strategic ambiguity can be a survival skill, demanding distinctness is a way of reducing wiggle room. If the president later shifts, Chase can point back to this moment: you were heard, you were decisive, you were on record.

Contextually, it reads like a high-level meeting note turned into public rhetoric: the language of deference that masks an ongoing contest for influence. Chase, ambitious and often at odds with Lincoln, sounds satisfied - and ensures everyone knows exactly why.