The failure to comprehend was on their part, not on his.

Had he on that journey gratified the aggressive friends of the Union who had supported him for the Presidency, he would have added immeasurably to the serious troubles which already confronted him.

He had the practical faculty of discerning the chief point to be reached, and then bending every energy to reach it.

He saw that the one thing needful was his regular, constitutional inauguration as President of the United States.

Policies both general and in detail would come after that.