“My friend，that is a splendid speech，a magnificent speech，”McKinley said.“No one could have prepared a better one.There are many occasions on which it would be precisely the right thing to say，but is it quite suitable to this particular occasion？Sound and sober as it is from your standpoint，I must consider its effect from the party’s standpoint.Now you go home and write a speech along the lines I indicate，and send me a copy of it.”
He did just that.McKinley blue-penciled and helped him rewrite his second speech，and he became one of the effective speakers of the campaign.
Here is the second most famous letter that Abraham Lincoln ever wrote.（His most famous one was written to Mrs.Bixby，expressing his sorrow for the death of the five sons she had lost in battle.）Lincoln probably dashed this letter off in five minutes；yet it sold at public auction in 1926for twelve thousand dollars，and that，by the way，was more money than Lincoln was able to save during half a century of hard work.
The letter was written to General Joseph Hooker on April 26，1863，during the darkest period of the Civil War.For eighteen months，Lincoln’s generals had been leading the Union Army from one tragic defeat to another.Nothing but futile，stupid human butchery.The nation was appalled.Thousands of soldiers had deserted from the army，and en the Republican members of the Senate had revolted and wanted to force Lincoln out of the White House.“We are now on the brink of destruction，”Lincoln said.“It appears to me that even the Almighty is against us.I can hardly see a ray of hope.”Such was the black sorrow and chaos out of which this letter came.
I am printing the letter here because it shows how Lincoln tried to change an obstreperous general when the very fate of the nation could have depended upon the general’s action.This is perhaps the sharpest letter Abe Lincoln wrote after he becamePresident；yet you will note that he praised General Hooker before he spoke of his grave faults.
Yes，they were grave faults，but Lincoln didn’t call them that.Lincoln was more conservative，more diplomatic.Lincoln wrote：“There are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you.”Talk about tact！And diplomacy！Here is the letter addressed to General Hooker：
I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac.Of course，I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient reasons，and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you.
I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier，which，of course，I like.I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession，in which you are right.You have confidence in yourself，which is a valuable if not an indispensable quality.
You are ambitious，which，within reasonable bounds，does good rather than harm，But I think that during General Burnside’s command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could，in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.
I have heard，in such a way as to believe it，of your recently saying that both the army and the Government needed a dictator.Of course，it was not for this，but in spite of it，that I have given you command.
Only those generals who gain successes can set up as dictators.What I now ask of you is military success and I will risk the dictatorship.
The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability，which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders.I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army，of criticizing their commander andwithholding confidence from him，will now turn upon you.I shallassist you，as far as I can，to put it down.
Neither you nor Napoleon，if he were alive again，could get any good out of an army while such spirit prevails in it，and now beware of rashness.Beware of rashness，but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories.
You are not a Coolidge，a McKinley or a Lincoln.You want to know whether this philosophy will operate for you in everyday business contacts.Will it？Let’s see.Let’s take the case of W.P.Gaw of the Wark Company，Philadelphia.
The Wark Company had contracted to build and complete a large office building in Philadelphia by a certain specified date.Everything was going along well；the building was almost finished，when suddenly the sub-contractor making the ornamental bronze work to go on the exterior of this building declared that he couldn’t make delivery on schedule.What！An entire building held up！Heavy penalties！Distressing losses！All because of one man！
L o n g -d i s t a n c e t e l e p h o n e c a l l s .A r g u m e n t s ！H e a t e d conversations！All in vain.Then Mr.Gaw was sent to New York to beard the bronze lion in his den.
“Do you know you are the only person in Brooklyn with your name？”Mr.Gaw asked the president of the subcontracting firm shortly after they were introduced.The president was surprised.“No，I didn’t know that.”
“Well，”said Mr.Gaw，“when I got off the train this morning，I looked in the telephone book to get your address，and you’re the only person in the Brooklyn phone book with your name.”
“I never knew that，”the subcontractor said.He checked the phone book with interest.“Well，it’s an unusual name，”he said proudly.“My family came from Holland and settled in New York almost two hundred years ago.”He continued to talk about hisfamily and his ancestors for several minutes.When he finished that，Mr.Gaw complimented him on how large a plant he had and compared it favorably with a number of similar plants he had visited.“It is one of the cleanest and neatest bronze factories I ever saw，”said Gaw.
“I’ve spent a lifetime building up this business，”the subcontractor said，“and I am rather proud of it.Would you like to take a look around the factory？”