The Cavalcade of America, starring Thomas Mitchell. Tonight, the DuPont Company brings you The Man Who Stepped Aside, starring Thomas Mitchell on The Cavalcade of America. First, here is Gain Whitman. Good evening. Now that spring has come, it will soon be time to prepare the cooling system of your car for the long days of motoring ahead. Drain out the antifreeze, then clean out the rust and scum with DuPont Cooling System Cleanser. It dissolves rust chemically and thoroughly cleans out the entire system. Then, to prevent new rust formation, fill the radiator with fresh water and add a can of DuPont Acid and Rust Inhibitor. Finally, add DuPont Cooling System Sealer to prevent leaks in the radiator and hose connections. The entire job will take less than an hour and will ensure against overheating and engine trouble. These cooling system products are among DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. And now, The Man Who Stepped Aside, starring Thomas Mitchell as William Seward on The Cavalcade of America. Fanny! Fanny! Hey! Yes, Frederick. What do you want? Where's Father? In the house. We better get him out here. This crowd wants to see him. The next president of the United States. Alright, Frederick. I'll get him. On that day in May 1860, an expectant crowd milled around the home of William Henry Seward in Auburn, New York. Leader of the newly formed Republican Party, Seward waited for news from the convention in Chicago. As the crowd applauded, he came through the doorway, waved his hand at the cheering people. There was justifiable pride in his voice as he said to his son, Frederick. I'm as conceited as the next man, Frederick. So I confess I love all this. And why not? The next president of the United States. There's an election to be held after the nomination. Election? Why, it'll be a mere formality, Father. Think so? Hello, Senator Seward. Well, Mr. Wilton, how's the New York health? By that I suppose you mean Mr. Bennet. That's it. He knows a sure thing when he sees it. He's confident too. Sure. You're the only candidate who could carry the country at a time like this. With Breckenridge and Douglas splitting the Democratic Party, the election will be a mere formality. That's what I said, Mr. Wilton. Any word from the convention in Chicago, Senator? Any moment now, there'd better be. This crowd won't stand quietly much longer. They'll be into my home in a minute. Father was ahead on the first ballot. Mr. Seward, Mr. Seward. Yes? Telegram from Chicago. Oh, thank you, Jim. Well, well, open it, Father. Open it. No, Fred, not out here. Let's go into Mother. Oh, darling, darling. Yes, William? Well, here it is, dearest. The news that's going to make you the First Lady of the land. This telegram. William Henry Seward, President of the United States. I've waited for that a long time. Open it, William. William. My dear. Father, what's the matter? Abraham Lincoln, nominated on the third ballot. William? Yes? Come in. You're feeling, you're feeling better, darling? Yes, of course. Oh, my dearest. It's broken your heart, hasn't it? No, no, not at all. Oh, you're no good at fibbing. Fibbing? No, I guess I'm not. Oh, why did they do it to you? Why did they make you step aside again? Politics and life are uncertain, dearest. They'll come to you and say, Mr. Seward, we're sorry. Sorry? For me? Why for me? William. They needn't be sorry for me. Let them save that sympathy for the United States at a time like this. Let them save all their concern and worry for a country on the edge of a war that will tear it apart. In 1856, they passed me by for Fremont because he was a popular hero. He could carry the country, they said. Well, he didn't. Now they've nominated a backwards lawyer, a frontier philosopher, a dreamer who speaks of moral obligations to humanity when he should be thinking how to avert the war that... Oh, I'm sorry, my dear. Forgive me. You're bitter, William. Well, I'll try not to be. But I see the war. Does this Lincoln see it? Does he concern himself with it? I don't know. Perhaps he won't be elected. Oh, he's sure to be. The Democratic Party is divided. And you? What about you, William? I? We have a lovely home here, everything we want. We'll enjoy it together for the rest of our lives. You're quitting? I was just asked to step aside. Mr. Seward, we've heard you intend to retire from public life. Is that true? That depends upon what you mean by public life, Senator. If I can serve my country at this time, I shall be happy to do so. Good, good. We wanted to hear that. Now, Lincoln has asked you to be his secretary of state. Quite correct, sir. You've made up your mind to accept? Accept? I... Gentlemen, I've thought about it for some time. Mr. Seward... Just a moment, Senator. I haven't finished. I shall not accept Mr. Lincoln's offer. Shall not? But we feel that... I've made up my mind. The party decided I was, shall we say, less available than Mr. Lincoln. Very well, I accept that decision. Mr. Seward, we want you to accept Lincoln's offer. Oh? Why? Well, you see, Mr. Seward, Lincoln is hardly known beyond his own state, Illinois. He's untried, weak perhaps. You know that? No, Mr. Seward, but we can't afford to risk it. The risk was assumed irrevocably at Chicago. Confound it, Seward. You are strong, politically and in statesmanship. Lincoln is an unknown quantity. We can't take the chance of weakness in a president at this time. I fail to see the point. If I accept the post of secretary of state, I still won't be president. No, but you can formulate our policy. Oh, in short, gentlemen, you're asking me to be, to put it rightly, the power behind the presidency, an American telly rant. Perhaps that's a little too sharply put, Mr. Seward. I'm a practical man. Mincing words at a time when our country is in grave danger is foolish, stupid. Then that means you will accept. I don't know. I shall have to think it over. It's a hard decision, my dear. I know, William, but it's yours to make. If I accept, I'll give tacit consent to their plan. They'll expect me to dictate policy to Mr. Lincoln. If I refuse, then people will say I've shirked my duty because of rancor and bitterness. It's hard, too hard. What was it you said once, William, in a speech? I don't know. This is my country. I shall serve it to the best of my ability. Very simple. You don't understand what seems to be simplicity has become the complex and difficult. Words in a speech are easily come by. The tongue falls naturally into them. Actions, well, they're hard. Has your country changed? What? It's still your country. Oh, yes, yes, I know. But I shall resent the man. Oh, I'm human, darling. No, so human that once I meet him and speak with him, I shall say to myself, there but for the will of the Chicago Convention go I. Now, is that small and little? Is it? No, is what you said human. Oh, William, think it out. Do what your heart tells you to do. It must be my mind, not my heart. Well, both then. No, no, only the mind at this time. If he's weak, I must be strong. I must insist when he doubts. I must force when he relents. All right, I'll be his secretary of state. Oh, good, good, William. His secretary of state? No, my country's. Mr. Seward, Mr. Lincoln? Oh, yes, Nicolay. What is it? Mr. Seward is waiting to see you, sir. Oh, good. Have him come in, Mr. Nicolay. Yes, Mr. Lincoln. Come in, Mr. Seward. Good morning, Mr. Seward. Mr. Lincoln, sit down. Thank you. What I wanted to see you about was to thank you, Mr. Seward. Oh, for your willingness to serve me. We both serve our country, Mr. Lincoln. Hmm? Oh, yes, of course. These are uncertain times. There is uncertainty in each of us. Is there? None in you, Mr. Seward? About what? Well, the matter of Fort Sumter, for example. Evacuate Fort Sumter immediately. Order Anderson's troops from the fort. I should like to consult the other members of the cabinet about it, Mr. Seward. Mr. Lincoln, this is no time for consultations, for wasting time. Yes, there is so little time. Yes, sir. But I, I still think the other members of the cabinet should be consulted. You asked my advice, sir. I gave it. I know. And I thank you, Mr. Seward. If there are any other matters, Mr. Lincoln, I am at your disposal. Please keep your chairs, gentlemen. First, may I thank you for coming to this, shall we say, unofficial conference? You, as governors of the seceded states of the Union, are interested in the matter of Fort Sumter. Yes, we are, Mr. Seward. If federal troops are kept there, we shall regard it as a highly belligerent act. Certainly. Well, gentlemen, I think I can promise you in all confidence that those troops will be withdrawn. Mr. Seward, that's wonderful. What assurance do we have that the fort will be cleared of federal troops? Sir, there is an order on the president's desk at this moment. It needs only Mr. Lincoln's signature. He'll sign it. I have sent him my strongest recommendation that he do so as soon as possible. You seem very confident, Mr. Seward. I am, sir. Now I shall see Mr. Lincoln. And let us hope that the withdrawal of troops from Fort Sumter will pave the way for peaceable talks. Between North and South. It's impossible. He couldn't have done it, Nicolay. He couldn't have. He did, Mr. Seward. There's a mistake there must be. Mr. Seward, will you come in now, please? Yes, Mr. Lincoln. Sit down, Mr. Seward. Mr. President, your order to reinforce Sumter, it's impossible. I've given the order, Mr. Seward. Then why did you ask for the opinion of your cabinet members? Why? Because I needed that advice, Mr. Seward. And didn't take it? I thought about it a great deal. Mr. Lincoln. Your opinion, your own opinion, Mr. Seward, I have it here. I read a part of it. You wrote, the government is to maintain, preserve, and defend the Union peacefully if it can. Forcibly, if it must, to every extremity. Well, Mr. Seward? Yes, that's my opinion. Forcibly, if it must. Those words, Mr. Seward... Forcibly, if it must. If it must. And peacefully, if it could. We could have. We could have pacified the poorer states. Kept them loyal, even while others seceded. A defensive rather than a belligerent attitude, Mr. Lincoln. Don't you see that? Yes, I do. Neither of us wants war, Mr. Seward. Then why provoke it? You think I did? Yes, sir. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon the viewpoint, I have a conscience. Conscience? Will your conscience countenance a war between our states? No, no. In God's name, Mr. Seward, I should rather die a million deaths than suffer one man, northern or southern, to die because of differences between sections of our nation. Then there is no reconciliation between your conscience and your actions. There is. Where, sir? Where? I took an oath of office, an office which gives me power. But that power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property in places belonging to the government and therefore to the majority of the people. What, Mr. Lincoln? You and I, Mr. Seward. We have two consciences. One for ourselves and one for our country. The personal conscience is no longer important. We could have held this war off a little longer. Yes, for a week, a month, perhaps a little longer, but it had come. God forbid I should shrink the responsibility if it comes to me. And... Mr. Lincoln! Well, Mr. Nicolay, what is it? Look, Mr. Lincoln. God forgive me and help me. Mr. Lincoln! Fort Sumter has been attacked. You are listening to The Man Who Stepped Aside, starring Thomas Mitchell as William Henry Seward, with John McIntyre as Lincoln, on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. With the attack on Fort Sumter, the war between the states began, disastrously at first for the Union, defeat after defeat for federal troops, black hours that mounted their despair upon despair, and in the home of William Henry Seward, Secretary of State. I tell you, Mr. Seward, if Mr. Lincoln insists upon his policy toward the South, he will alienate all of us. A knife for a knife, a tooth for a tooth. Is that your policy, Senator? If I'm not, this disastrous war is claimed live. It's property, it has done it. Oh, don't talk to me about what it's done. I know, I know, he knows. Oh, nonsense. What would you do with the South in the event of a federal victory, Senator? They began this thing, let them feel the punishment, fully and finally. Oh, you fool. You stupid fool. You forget yourself, Mr. Seward. I did that long ago, and thank God for it. What's the matter with you? What's come over you? You were no enthusiastic supporter of Lincoln at first. I wasn't. No. You're so very wrong, my friend, so very wrong. Wrong? You've fought with him every inch of the way. Yes, on methods, not principles. We want the same things, he and I. Perhaps for different reasons, but we agree. Of course, of course. Everyone knows you're the real President. I'm... I'm what? Well, come now, Seward. You just admitted it. Admitted what? That you want the same things. Well, you influenced him to come over to our way of thinking. It won't be too bad for you, understand? Yes, quite. Now get out of here before I throw you out. What? Get out. Get out! Frederick! Frederick! You wanted me, Father? Yes. Frederick, will you write a letter for me? Why, surely. Sit down. Now, Mr. President, I... I... Can't get it started, Father? No. A letter of resignation is always hard to write. I won't accept it, Mr. Seward. I won't. You must, Mr. Lincoln, to save you embarrassment. Embarrassment? Oh, I see. You do? Oh, yes. I know what they say, that you're the real President. And this... this resignation will put an end to that talk. Yes, sir. Why can't we let him talk, Seward? It's impossible, sir. Seward, have we become friends through these years? I hope so. I know so. We haven't always agreed, but even our quarrels were constructive. Sometimes I was right, sometimes you were. But my resignation... May I do this? But... but what about the talk? Talk is like wind, Seward. It stirs up dust, but dust settles in time. Would you leave me now? I don't want to. Then don't. Stay with me, my friend. You're the only one who shares this terrible conscience with me. Oh, how many steps have I walked in the nights. How many words have I spoken to God that this thing might end. How many prayers were there in my heart that this thing could have been averted. Seward, Seward, tell me. Could it have been? Was there a chance, a single tiny chance that blood and lives could have been spared? Tell me, Seward, tell me. There was no chance. Yet you fought to prevent it, too. In the only ways I knew how. Yes. Now, will you stay with me when it's over so that we, you and I, may still the cries of bitterness, the feverish screams for revenge. Will you stay? Will you help me join North and South again? As long as you want me to, Mr. President. Hans Cheatham. Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville. Gettysburg. Bigsburg. Chickamauga. Atlanta. Savannah. And Lindenville. Great- Appomattox. Good evening, Miss Spanley. How is your father? You can see him, Mr. Lincoln. The doctor said the accident could have been worse. Please go in. Thank you. Well, Seward, how are you? Oh, Mr. Lincoln. Better, much better. Carriage accidents are not for secretaries of state. This one was. Well, sir, it's all over. Yes, all over the war. Now our battle begins, Seward. The battle to reconstruct, to make our nation well again. With no bitterness, no rancor, no north and south. Just our country. We'll do it, Seward. It'll be a fight, but we'll do it. God willing. But you, you should rest relaxed, Mr. President. Try to enjoy yourself. I will. I'm going to see a play tonight at Ford's Theater. Yes? Yeah, who's there? Who's there, I said? Keep your voice down, Mr. Seward, or we'll attend to your family. Who are you? What do you want? Never mind who I am as to what we want, it's you. Frederick! I told you to be quiet. Just listen, Mr. Seward. The country was rid of one tyrant tonight. One tyrant? What do you mean? Abraham Lincoln was shot. No! Yes, and you were part of his tyranny. I'm sorry we don't have time to let you ask God for forgiveness, but you... Help! Frederick! Thomas Cratcher, watch the door! Frederick! Help! Help! Someone's coming, Payne. All right, we'll finish this. You! You think! Oh, it's you! Father! What's the matter? Get up, Thomas Cratcher! Help me! Father! Fanny! Fanny! Yes, Father. What's the matter? Wheel me over to the window. Dr. Verdi says you mustn't. The wounds are still opening. Window, Fanny? I want to see his... Procession. All right. Why? Why? Please come away from the window. No, no, leave me here. No, you stay. I wonder... How many people understood him? No one... yet. Father! Oh, hello, Fanny. Hello, Frederick. Father, I've come from the Capitol. Andrew Johnson wants you as his Secretary of State. No, Father, you've done enough. Not as much as... he did. Frederick... Will you tell President Johnson I'll serve? But, Father, why must you go through it all again? Let someone else take the worry, the fights, the insults. You want to know why? Well, Father... Listen, Frederick, Fanny... Once... I thought I was pushed aside... For a man whom I called a raw frontiersman. I thought of him as an untutored lawyer, undignified, crude. Now... Now I know what he really was. Someday everyone will know. You see... I stepped aside, and I'm glad I did. I stepped aside for greatness. And, God willing... I shall do all in my power to see that the things that greatness could have accomplished... Will not go unfinished. Now, here is Gaine Whitman speaking for DuPont. Somewhere in the house in which you live... Perhaps on the floor... Perhaps on the stair rail... There glistens a memento to a woman's golden hair. Blonde hair, so beautiful... That it is still a legend after 2200 years. The famous amber hair belonged to Queen Berenice of Cyrene... Who later became the wife of the King of Egypt. When the King went off to war, Berenice took a vow... To sacrifice her hair on the altar of Venus... If only he was brought home safe to her. The King did come home, safe and sound. And Berenice, true to her vow, cut off her beautiful long hair. But it was so beautiful that somebody stole it from the altar. Perhaps one of the gods, said the court astronomers... Longing to carry it away to heaven. To this day, there is a constellation in the sky... In the Milky Way, known as Berenice's hair. And Berenice's name comes down to us in another way. Changed, first to Berenice, then to Vernic's. We know it as varnish. The clear amber varnish which protects and beautifies the furniture. The floor in your house. It is good news for homeowners that dealers again have DuPont varnishes to sell. Chemical science has done much to improve varnishes. DuPont makes several. One varnish that is particularly useful around the house... Is DuPont SuperClear. SuperClear provides a tough, durable protective film. Highly resistant to scarring, scratching, even hot or cold water. It has a high gloss and levels itself as it is applied. A single coat covers, drying overnight. Fast drying is important in a varnish because the faster it dries... The less dust it picks up from the air. The real color of SuperClear makes it particularly good for the bleached blonde woods... That are popular nowadays since it darkens them little if at all. SuperClear is only one of several varnishes manufactured by the DuPont company. For whatever purpose you may need a varnish... Your DuPont dealer will help you to choose the right one... Of these DuPont better things for better living through chemistry. The early days of the West saw a raw wild country... Where men lived lawlessly or made their own laws. Into this came a quiet, cool-eyed man named Wyatt Earp... Whose sick shooter and courage brought law and order to America's Western frontiers. Be sure and listen next Monday to Kansas Marshall... The story of Wyatt Earp starring Henry Fonda on the Cavalcade of America. The music for the DuPont Cavalcade is composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Tonight's Cavalcade was written by Philo Higley. Featured in the cast with Thomas Mitchell was John McIntyre as Abraham Lincoln. This is John Easton inviting you to listen next week to Henry Fonda in Kansas Marshall. And in coming weeks you will hear Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter and other famous Hollywood stars... On the Cavalcade of America brought to you by the DuPont company of Wilmington, Delaware. Cavalcade of America came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.
