The Mexican Minister Describes Andrew Johnson's 'Swing Around the Circle'

The Mexican Minister Describes Andrew Johnson's 'Swing Around the Circle* Thomas Schoonover Presented below are translations of two complete dispatches and parts of two others from Matías Romero, Mexican Minister to the United States, to Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations, and parts of two newspaper articles written by Romero describing at great length and in considerable detail the events and the personal relationships which Romero observed while he accompanied President Andrew Johnson and his party from Washington to Chicago in September 1866.x Specifically, Romero described the extent to which Secretary of State William Seward, General Ulysses S. Grant and others used his presence to point out the success of the Johnson administration in foreign policy, the major problem being the continuing French intervention in Mexico. Seward, on many occasions during the tour, won applause by predicting the early termination of this European encroachment . These Romero letters also contain valuable comments on die relationships between Johnson and Seward and between Johnson and Grant. They present a much fuller account than Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles' Diary and are much more frank about personal relationships . There has been little disagreement or controversy in American historiography about the "swing around the circle." In part this is due to the near total agreement among United States historians that the conflict between President Johnson and the Radicals entirely centered upon domestic policy and in part it is due to the scarcity of primary sources. Newspaper accounts, Gideon Welles' Diary, and the Impeachment Investigation testimony before the House Judiciary Committee,2 largely drawn from the newspaper accounts, have provided the data for interpreting Johnson's tour. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of Romero's letters is that they raise some large questions of interpretation. The authorities agree that Johnson 's trip was a political tour designed to gain popular support in his 1 The author thanks his wife Ebba, Judy Gentry, Joan Cain and Mario Delgado for their assistance in preparing this article. 2 Gideon Welles, Diary, edited by Howard K. Beale and Alan W. Brownsword (New York, I960), II, 584-598; United States, House of Representatives, Impeachment Investigation. Testimony Taken Before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in the Investigation of the Charges Against Andrew Jackson. Serial Set No. 1314, 40 Cong., 1 sess. (1867). 149 150CIVIL WAR HISTORY battle with the Radicals over control of reconstruction policy.3 Often the tour is connected with the political conventions being held in August and September or with the race riots in Memphis or New Orleans. Yet during the tour these affairs were seldom mentioned in the public speeches, except in response to comments from the crowd. When the Johnson party (often Seward) had the initiative during the public ceremonies , at some point, someone usually referred to the success of the Johnson-Seward Mexican policy. At first, Romero believed that Seward mentioned Mexico "in the heat" of public meetings, without previous intent. Later, however, he discerned a purposeful use of the Mexican policy to attract popular acclaim for the Johnson administration. Examples of the prominence given to Romero as a representative of Mexico and as witness to the success of the Johnson-Seward Mexican policy were not uncommon even in the traditional sources—the newspapers . The New York Times noted that Romero was seated at the head table for the major banquet held at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York on August 29.4 On September 1, the Times reported that Seward received great applause from a crowd at Auburn when he introduced Romero with the remark, 'Tie hoped by next November that sister republic would be delivered from the last vestige of foreign invasion ."5 The Times also reported in full Romero's response to a toast by Grant at a banquet that evening and then commented that "the guests cheered the reply of the Mexican Minister."6 Similar reports singled out for special notice the introduction of Romero and the cheers for Mexico which the introduction produced in the towns of Lake Shore, New York, Fremont, Ohio, and Albion, Michigan.7 The Chicago Tribune reported on Romero's toasts at Delmonico's and in Auburn...