In reply, Lincoln explained that “the urgent solicitation of an old friend who has served me all my life, and who has never before received or asked anything in return,” led to the appointment. “His (Mr. Dennison’s) good character was vouched for from the start by many at New York, including Mr. Opdyke.” But, as Chase had warned, some prominent New York reformers questioned Denison’s integrity. James A. Briggs said Denison “only cares to make money. He knows nobody, & nobody knows him. His appointment was a party outrage.” Denison helped his cause by giving Mrs. Lincoln a handsome carriage and establishing a $5,000 line of credit for her in New York, leading Briggs to state: “this office was sold.” Irwin was acting on behalf of Marston, a Wall Street broker with whom Denison formally agreed to split evenly the profits of his lucrative government position. (Denison abused his power as naval officer, engaging in extortion, seizing ships promiscuously, and pocketing cash from out-of-court settlements that should have gone into the government’s coffers.) Senator Preston King complained to Lincoln about the gift Denison gave to Mrs. Lincoln. A New York merchant called Denison an unqualified “good looking boy about 25 years of age, whose only naval experience was obtained as a runner, or collecting clerk” for the New York Evening Post, which allegedly received $80,000 “worth of pecuniary aid” from Denison. The appointment was made “in order to please the sinister desire of the editors” of that paper. Sam Ward, a Washington insider known as “King of the Lobby,” suggested that there was something unsavory about the relationship between Denison and Mrs. Lincoln.
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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