Early 1861---Fort Sumter is threatened

MARCH 15, 1861:       

Fort Sumter, in Charleston (S.C.) harbor, remains the sole Federal outpost in “The Cradle of Secession.” The fort is running low on supplies. As with President Buchanan before him, Lincoln is approached by emissaries for the seceded State, demanding that Fort Sumter be evacuated and turned over to South Carolina.

Unlike President Buchanan, Lincoln refuses to see the emissaries, even as “private gentlemen,” since he does not want to lend legitimacy to the secession movement or to the Confederacy, which he refuses to recognize. 

On this day, Lincoln asks his Cabinet members for their written advice on how to handle the Fort Sumter situation. Over the next two weeks, members advise the President not to attempt the relief Fort Sumter. Secretary of State William H. Seward gives President Lincoln a heaping serving of unsolicited and lengthy advice on how to run the government and on how to handle the crisis. 

On April 1st, President Lincoln tactfully apprises Secretary Seward that he, not Seward, is President and courteously rejects Seward's proposal that Lincoln grant him broad powers in foreign affairs and in dealing with the Confederacy. Thereafter, Seward becomes a loyal and unswerving supporter of President Lincoln.