The President
then asked me if I thought General Devens would be willing
to accept the office of Attorney-General, and exchange it
for that of Secretary of War later, when the McGarrahan claim
had been disposed of so far as Executive action was concerned.
I told the President that I thought he would. When General
Devens arrived I stated the case to him. He said he should
be unwilling to agree to such an arrangement. He would be
willing to accept the office in the beginning, but if he were
to give up the office of Attorney-General after having once
undertaken it, he might be thought to have failed to discharge
his duties to the satisfaction of the President, or that of
the public. He was unwilling to take that risk.
So the President determined to offer the Department of Justice
to General Devens, and the Department of War to Mr. McCrary,
a good deal to the disappointment of the latter. All McCrary's
ambitions in life were connected with his profession. He
took the first opportunity to leave the Executive Department
for a judicial career.
The other members of the Cabinet were: William M.
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