It  was  well  known  that  the  President  felt  much  cast  down  by  the
result.  He  had,  as  is  usual  with  Presidents,  been  surrounded  by
flatterers,  and  had  not  been  advised  of  the  actual  state  of  public
opinion.  Political  deserters,  place-seekers  and  personal  sycophants
had  constantly  assured  the  President  that  his  cause  was  strong  and
his  strength  irresistible.  They  had  discovered  that  one  of  his  espe
cial  weaknesses  was  an  ambition  to  be  considered  as  firm  and  heroic
in  his  Administration  as  General  Jackson  had  proved  in  the  Execu
tive  chair  thirty  years  before.  He  received,  therefore,  with  evident
welcome  the  constant  adulation  of  a  comparison  between  his  quali
ties  and  those  of  General  Jackson,  and  he  came  to  fancy  that  he
would  prove,  in  his  contest  for  the  unconditional  re-admission  of
Southern  States  to  representation,  as  mighty  a  power  in  the  land  as
Jackson  had  proved  in  his  struggle  with  the  Bank  monopolists  and
with  the  Disuriionists  of  South  Carolina.  But  those  who  had  studied
the  character  of  Johnson  knew  that  aside  from  the  possession  of  per
sonal  integrity,  he  had  few  qualities  in  common  with  those  which
distinguished  Jackson.  Johnson  was  bold  and  fluent  in  public  speech,
irresolute  and  procrastinating  in  action :  Jackson  wasted  no  words,
but  always  acted  with  promptness  and  courage.  Johnson  was  vain,
loquacious,  and  offensively  egotistic  :  Jackson,  on  the  other  hand,  was
proud,  reserved,  and  with  such  abounding  seif-respect  as  excluded
egotism.  The  two  men,  instead  of  being  alike,  were  in  fact  signal
contrasts  in  all  that  appertains  to  the  talent  for  administration,  to
the  quick  discernment  of  the  time  for  action,  and  to  the  prompt
execution  of  whatever  policy  might  be  announced.
The  Republicans  had  found  an  easier  victory  over  Johnson  than
VOL.  II.  16


242  TWENTY  YEARS  OF   CONGRESS.
