304 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS entered his cabinet as secretary of war. Mr. Lin coln, who, sixteen years before, had returned from the field just in time to stand by the death-bed of his father, assassinated while president, now had his strange experience repeated upon the assassina tion of President Garfield, a few months after his inauguration. On the accession of Vice-President Arthur to the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln was the only member of the former cabinet who was re quested to retain his portfolio, and he did so to the end of the administration. He performed the duties of the place with such ability and fairness, and with such knowledge of the law and apprecia tion of the needs of the army, as to gain the warm est approbation of its officers and its friends. Note worthy incidents of his administration of the civil duties of the department were his report to the house of representatives upon its challenge to him to justify President Arthur s veto of the river and harbor bill of 1882, and the thoroughness and promptness of the relief given, from Wheeling to New Orleans, to those suffering from the great floods of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in Febru ary, 1884. In the latter year Mr. Lincoln was prominently spoken of for the presidency; but, as President Arthur was a candidate before the Republican convention, Lincoln refused to allow his name to be presented for either place on the
