In that period of crisis, there were two great changes in American financial policy, the establishment of a national banking system and the issue of paper currency.
The former was Chase's own particular measure. He suggested the idea, worked out the important principles and many of the details, and induced Congress to approve them. It not only secured an immediate market for government bonds, but also provided a permanent uniform, stable national currency. Chase ensured that the Union could sell debt to pay for the war effort. He worked with Jay Cooke & Company to successfully manage the sale of $500 million in government war bonds in 1862.
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| Jay Cooke |
The first U.S. federal currency, the greenback demand note, was printed in 1861–1862, during Chase's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury. Against his beliefs, and believing issuing greenbacks to be unconstitutional, but with the debts from the war mounting and not being paid, Chase lobbied the congress to pass the Legal Tender Acts of 1862 and 1863. This enabled the printing of paper money as a legal substitute for gold and silver for pre-existing debts including taxes, internal duties, personal debts, and excise taxes. debts.
Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:
Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.
"In God We Trust" was printed on every piece of U.S. currency for the first time in 1864 by order of the Secretary of the Treasury.
In an effort to further his political career, his face appeared on a variety of U.S. paper currency, starting with the $1 bill so that the people would recognize him. He was nick named "Old Mr. Greenbacks."
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| Chase Portrait on One Dollar Bill |
A devout religious man, Chase read the Bible every day. He had been an active member of St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral when he lived in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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| St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral (left), Cincinnati, Ohio |
The last line of the Emancipation Proclamation was written by Chase after he called to the President's attention that there was no mention of the Deity: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of all mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."
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| Lincoln and his Cabinet at the time of the Emancipation Proclamation |
Perhaps Chase's chief defect was an insatiable desire for high office. Throughout his term as Treasury Secretary, Chase exploited his position to build up political support for another run at the Presidency in 1864. He also tried to pressure Lincoln by repeatedly threatening resignation, which he knew would cause Lincoln difficulties with the Radical Republicans.
In June 1864, Lincoln surprised Chase by accepting his offer of resignation.
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| Lincoln in his office, 1864 |
The Republican Party had at that point already nominated Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and the Treasury was in solid shape, so Lincoln no longer needed to keep Chase in the cabinet to forestall a challenge for the presidential nomination. But to placate the Radical wing of the party, Lincoln mentioned Chase as a potential Supreme Court nominee.
"....I will tell you how it is with Chase. Chase has fallen into two bad habits. He thinks he has became indispensable to the country . . . He also thinks he ought to be President. He has no doubts whatever about that. It is inconceivable to him why people have not found it out, why they don't as one man rise up and say so...He is either determined to annoy me, or that I shall pat him on the shoulder and coax him to stay. I don't think I ought do it. I will not do it. I will take him at his word . . . And yet there is not a man in the Union who would make as good a Chief Justice as Chase, and if I have the opportunity I will make him Chief Justice of the United States .."
~ Abraham Lincoln
When Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died in October 1864, Lincoln named Chase to replace him. Lincoln issued the nomination on December 6, 1864. Chase was confirmed by the Senate that very day, and immediately received his commission, holding the office from 1864 until his own death in 1873.
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| Chase and Supreme Court Justices |
Chase was a complete change from the pro-slavery Taney; one of Chase's first acts as Chief Justice was to admit John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
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| John Rock |
In his capacity as Chief Justice, Chase presided at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868. The Chief Justice brought to the trial a much needed air of dignity and impartiality. As the first impeachment trial of a President under the Constitution, Chase realized that the procedure would set important precedents.
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| Andrew Johnson |
Toward the end of his life, he gradually drifted back toward his old Democratic allegiance, and made an unsuccessful effort to secure the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1868. He "was passed over because of his stance in favor of voting rights for black men".
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| Kate Chase Sprague |
In his bid for the presidency, he had the aid of his brilliant, beautiful, and wealthy daughter, Kate Chase Sprague, who, as Washington's most lavish hostess, sought to promote his advancement. In spite of the combined efforts of father and daughter, Chase never succeeded in capturing the great prize. In 1871, The New Departure policy of Ohio Democrat Clement Vallandigham was endorsed by Chase. He helped found the Liberal Republican Party in 1872, unsuccessfully seeking its presidential nomination. He opposed Ulysses Grant’s reelection in 1872.
Chase was a Freemason, active in the lodges of Midwestern society.
Chase died of a stroke in New York City on May 7, 1873, at the age of 62.
Chase died of a stroke in New York City on May 7, 1873, at the age of 62.
His remains were buried first in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.; and later re-interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.
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| Grave of Salmon Portland Chase |
He was survived by two daughters, Mrs. Kate Sprague and Mrs. (Janet "Nettie" )William S. Hoyt. After his death, his daughter Kate hid the diaries from Chase's biographers. fearing that the love he had for his first wife, Catherine, lessened the affection he had for her mother, his second wife, Eliza Ann Smith.
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| Chase with his young daughters, Janet and Kate |
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