President Buchanan appointed General Cass.
Following in the same line, Mr.Lincoln now invited his chief rival, Mr.Seward, to the State Department.

But his courtesy did not stop there.

He was generous beyond all example to his rivals.

He called Salmon P.Chase to the Treasury, appointed Simon Cameron to the War Department, and made Edward Bates of Missouri Attorney-General.
These were the three who, next to Mr.Seward, received the largest votes of the minority in the convention which nominated Mr.Lincoln.
The Cabinet was completed by the appointment of Gideon Welles of Connecticut Secretary of the Navy, Caleb B.Smith of Indiana Secretary of the Interior, and Montgomery Blair of Maryland Postmaster- General.
The announcement of these names gave fair satisfaction to the party, though the most advanced and radical element of the Republicans regarded its composition with distrust.

There had been strong hope on the part of the conservative friends of the Union that some prominent man from the Cotton States would be included in the Cabinet, and overtures were undoubtedly made to that effect directly after the election in November.