Vidal Gore — Eighteen Seventy [2905]

I can think of nothing more helpful to our cause than the President ordering Federal troops into the Capitol. But he won’t. My point is why surrender before the battle? There will be plenty of time for surrender if we lose. No, we must-hold out for the best terms. — Vidal Gore, Eighteen Seventy, 2905

Note

Tilden’s sardonic amusement at the idea of Federal troops descending into the Capitol illustrates his character’s strategic thinking and boldness. The sentence’s structure, juxtaposing the possible positive outcome of such chaos against the caution against premature surrender, creates a powerful tension that informs his political ethos.