Salmon P. Chase photo

Salmon P. Chase

American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States.

Chase was one of the most prominent members of the new Republican Party before becoming Chief Justice.

Chase articulated the "slave power conspiracy" thesis well before Lincoln, devoting his energies to the destruction of what he considered the Slave Power—the conspiracy of Southern slave owners to seize control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty. He coined the slogan of the Free Soil Party, "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men".


“I made this resolution today. I will try to excel in all things yet if I am excelled, without fault of mine, I will not be mortified. I will not withhold from any one the praise which I think his due; nor will I allow myself to envy another's praise or to feel jealousy when I hear him praised. May God help me to keep it.”
Salmon P. Chase
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