Letter From Influential Campaign Strategist Urging Schuyler Colfax To Run For Speaker Of The House During Civil War: “Chase Is Here With The Money Shylocks. He Thinks They Will Make Him Prest. They Have Not As Much Influence As A Wise Politician”

JAMES A. BRIGGS (1811-1889). Briggs was a prominent Nineteenth Century strategist and journalist best known for coining the famous 1840 campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: and for helping Abraham Lincoln receive the Republican nomination in 1860. SCHUYLER COLFAX (1823-1885). Colfax served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1863 and 1869, and as the Vice President under President Ulysses S. Grant. ALS. 2 pg. 8” x 10”. April 27, 1863. New York. An autograph letter written and signed by “James A. Briggs” to “Colfax” discussing major political issues of the day. Briggs details the challengers Colfax may face in the Speaker’s race, principally from the Blair family given their national influence: “Will you please send me if you have the Report of the Com. on the Conduct of the War & the testimony accompanying the same…Are you laying springs for the Speaker’s Chair? You must go to work quietly but surely for the place. It seems to me that you are there to win. At least I can do nothing to precent. Old Marlow will have his lance in the mess somewhere. He will need watching…The Blairs will be busy as I propose Frank will desire the place. But, one of them as P.M. General - & the father the private cabinet of Lincoln, ought to suffice for one family”. Briggs is prepared to aid Colfax in creating a national campaign for the position, but urges caution on the second page: “Chase will need watching” as Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase maneuvers to become President. “I would not risk chance with him, and as, at present advised: I do not intend to be a candidate for nomination…Chase is here with the money Shylocks. He thinks they will make him Prest. They have not as much influence as a wise politician”. Colfax would end up winning the race for Speaker, and his more radical politics frustrated Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, though they were instrumental to passing the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. Thus, this letter is a fascinating insight into a Republican Party divided by ideology and personal grievances in the middle of the Civil War and is in fine condition. The letter is in fine condition overall.