There is evidence that 150 years ago this week President Lincoln accepted the resignation of Postmaster General Montgomery Blair to placate the radical wing of his party.
From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Seven:
TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL BLAIR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 23, 1864.
HON. MONTGOMERY BLAIR.
MY DEAR SIR:—You have generously said to me, more than once, that whenever your resignation could be a relief to me, it was at my disposal. The time has come. You very well know that this proceeds from no dissatisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. Your uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by that of any other friend, and while it is true that the war does not so greatly add to the difficulties of your department as to those of some others, it is yet much to say, as I most truly can, that in the three years and a half during which you have administered the General Post-Office, I remember no single complaint against you in connection therewith.
Yours, as ever,
A. LINCOLN.
It is written in the first two links above that Mr Blair campaigned for the president’s re-election even after being dismissed.
