Note 144 — Chapter XIV · THE HARDS AND THE SOFTS 1853

"To satisfy the greatest number was the aim of the President, to whom this problem became the subject of serious thoughts and many councils; and although the whole Cabinet, as finally announced, was published in the newspapers one week before the inauguration, Pierce did not really decide who should be secretary of state until he had actually been one day in office, for up to the morning of March 5, that portfolio had not been offered to Marcy."—James F. Rhodes, History of the United States, Vol. 1, p. 389.