This absolute and impartial fairness to friend and foe alike was
one of his strongest traits, governing every action of his life.
If it had not been for this, he might possibly have enjoyed
another term in Congress, for there had been talk of reelecting
him. In spite of his confession to Speed that "being elected to
Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having
done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected," this must
have been flattering. But there were many able young men in
Springfield who coveted the honor, and they had entered into an
agreement among themselves that each would be content with a
single term. Lincoln of course remained faithful to this promise.
His strict keeping of promises caused him also to lose an
appointment from President Taylor as Commissioner of the General
Land Office, which might easily have been his, but for which he
had agreed to recommend some other Illinois man. A few weeks
later the President offered to make him governor of the new
Territory of Oregon. This attracted him much more than the other
office had done, but he declined because his wife was unwilling
to live in a place so far away.
His career in Congress, while adding little to his fame at the
time, proved of great advantage to him in after life, for it gave
him a close knowledge of the workings of the Federal Government,
and brought him into contact with political leaders from all
parts of the Union.
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