Lincoln ordered the release of Frank Blair, but when that choleric congressman threatened to bring charges against Frémont, the Pathfinder once again arrested him, only to have General Scott countermand his act. Lincoln’s calm handling of the controversy pleased Frank Blair’s sister Elizabeth. She hoped that the president’s “cool way of doing things will … teach the Blairs a lesson not to rush on at things or people so violently.” But Lincoln was not always decorous in handling Frémont’s champions. To a friend of the Pathfinder, Lincoln abruptly declared: “Sir, I believe General Frémont to be a thoroughly honest man, but he has unfortunately surrounded himself with some of the greatest scoundrels on this continent; you are one of them and the worst of them.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃