John A. Rawlins, Grant's chief-of-staff during the war, a man of high character and ability, chose himself for Secretary of War, and communicated his preference to his chief through General James H. Wilson, who was on terms of intimacy with both parties. Grant received the communication favorably and sent the name of Rawlins to the Senate and here he made no mistake. But Rawlins lived less than a year after his appointment. The two remaining members of the Cabinet, General Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior, and E. R. Hoar, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General, were ideal selections. The former had been governor of his state and had served with distinguished valor and efficiency in the Civil War. The latter was a man of sparkling wit and conversational powers, which, however, did not outshine his solid qualities of mind and character. Both these men came early into collision with the "spoils system," which afflicted the whole of Grant's administration with ever-increasing virulence. Both of them fought a losing battle with it, as did George William Curtis, who essayed, in a humbler capacity, to grapple with it. All three were retired, or retired voluntarily, before the end of Grant's first term. * * * * * The plank in the Republican platform forcing negro suffrage upon the South, but leaving it optional with the Northern States, was too brazen to be long maintained. Moreover, there was danger lest this right of the negroes should be taken from them after the Southern States should have recovered the right to amend their own constitutions. These things absorbed the attention of the Fortieth Congress during the last month of its existence. On January 30, 1869, the House passed an amendment to the Constitution by more than two-thirds majority in these words: The right of any citizen of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of race, color, or previous condition of slavery of any citizen or class of citizens of the United States. In the Senate, Vickers, of Maryland, moved to amend by providing that the right to vote should not be denied because of participation in the rebellion. This was rejected by 21 to 32, but it received the votes of eleven Republicans, among whom were Grimes, Harlan, Trumbull, and Wilson. Wilson, of Massachusetts, moved to add the words "nativity, property, education, or creed" to the words "race or color," and this was adopted by 31 to 27, Trumbull voting in the negative. The House rejected the amendment by 37 to 133 and sent it back to the Senate, which, by a vote of 33 to 24, receded from its amendment. The vote was then taken on concurring in the House Resolution as originally presented, and it failed by 31 to 27, not two thirds.