In politics there ought to be kindness and fairness.
John Sherman
The Public Record
John Sherman was an American politician from Ohio who served in federal office throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State. Sherman sought the Republican presidential nomination three times, coming closest in 1888, but was never chosen by the party. Between 1861 and 1897, John Sherman served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 32 years and holds the record for longest serving senator from the state of Ohio.
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We differed on political issues, but we never quarreled with each other.
My friend has made a very eloquent speech to you, but I have come to greet you all, to thank you for the support that has been extended to me by the people of Ohio, not only by those of my political faith, but also those who have differed…
John Sherman belongs to the whole country, and it is no reflection upon the usefulness of any other public man to say that his retirement to private life would be the greatest strictly personal loss the nation could now maintain.
To me, his brother, it is a higher pride to know and to say that in all the walks of private life--as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a soldier, a comrade, or a friend--he was an honorable gentleman, without fear and without…
It was the good fortune of General Sherman to have been a chief actor in this great drama, and to have lived long enough after its close to have realized and enjoyed the high estimate of his services by his comrades, by his countrymen, and…
It is one of the great epochs in the march of time, which, as the years go by, will be, by succeeding generations of freemen, classed in importance with the discovery of America and our Revolutionary War.
Its good influence will be felt by all the nations of the world, by opening to them the hope of free institutions.
Its benefits are not confined to the United States, but extend to all the countries of America.
No patriotic man of either section would willingly restore the old conditions.
It was a war by which the south gained, by defeat, enormous benefits, and the north, by success, secured the strength and development of the republic.
Never since the close of the war have I heard him utter words of bitterness against the enemies he fought, nor of the men in the north who had reviled him.
When this was done, and the Union was saved, he was for the most liberal terms of conciliation and kindness to the southern people.
He said that war was barbarism that could not be refined, and the speediest way to end it was to prosecute it with vigor to complete success.
He looked upon the heavy taxes now in vogue as in the nature of confiscation, and in some cases sold his land, rapidly rising in value, because the taxes assessed seemed to him unreasonable.
I doubt if any man living can truly say that General Sherman owes him a dollar, while thousands know he was generous in giving in proportion to his means.
There never was a time--since his appointment as a cadet, to her death--that he did not insist upon sharing with her his modest pay, and gave to her most respectful homage and duty.
He was distinguished, first of all, from his early boyhood, for his love and veneration for, and obedience to, his mother.
We mingle our grief with that of the nation, mourning the departure of her great son, and of the survivors of the battle-scarred veterans whom he led to victory and peace.
Resolved, That we hereby record the high appreciation in which the American people hold the character and services of General Sherman, as one of the greatest soldiers of his generation, as one of the grandest patriots that our country has…
We all need charity for our frailties, but I can feel none for anyone who would wound those already in distress.
It will be a monument to our republic and will tend to widen its influence with all the nations of Central and South America.
It is the interest of the commercial world as well as of the United States that the tolls charged on the passage of vessels should be as low as possible, and this will be secured by the construction of the work by the government.
The credit of the United States will secure a loan at the lowest possible rate of interest, and with money thus obtained, and with the confidence of contractors that they will receive their pay for work done, the cost will be reduced to…
If such aid is rendered it must be to the full cost of the work, and all the benefits should inure to the people and not to the corporation or its stockholders.
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