Talk:Edward Bates

The Three Candidates???
After reading "Team of Rivals" (by Doris Kearns Goodwin), I was under the impression that there were four main candidates, Chase, Seward, Bates, and Lincoln. Isn't that true? PRhyu 14:29, 14 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Yep. Those four plus, to a lesser extent, Cameron.  I made the change.--Son of lucas (talk) 10:33, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Belmont
Belmont was a plantation in Goochland County, Virginia (outside Richmond, VA). Belmont has nothing to do with Northern Virginia. Narwhalhistory
 * Fixed the info box reference to Goochland. --Onemoregain (talk) 02:47, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Republican party member?
In Goodwins "Team of Rivals" she states that (at least as far as 1860 is concerned) Bates was NOT a member of the Republican Party, being unwilling to give up on the old Whig party: "Though Bates acknowledged he had never officially joined the Republican Party, he understood that many Republicans,...." (page 26) it goes on to say many thought his nomination would be good for winning the election (that's paraphrased obviously), but I think that it is clear he wasn't a Republican, at least in 1860 during the nomination.Vyselink (talk) 04:32, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
 * No response yet. I'll leave it alone for another couple of days and then I'm going to change it if I don't get any words.Vyselink (talk) 21:29, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Attorney General
The section on Bates's time as attorney general does not seem like it accurately reflects him, at least from what I've read in Goodwin's Team of Rivals. For instance, the section currently says that he "disagreed with Lincoln on emancipation and the recruitment of blacks into the Union Army" when discussing the progression of Abraham Lincoln's presidency. While it is true that he initially held that view, he was the second cabinet member (Edwin Stanton was the first) to voice complete support for the measure because he believed it would help bring about a faster end to the war. Where are any sources backing up the negative view of Bates's time as attorney general? I think it would be better to add these details which paint a different picture of Bates than the one that currently is up.

Kirbyfan1996 (talk) 15:46, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 14:10, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Barton Bates
If anyone is interested, I have stubbed Bates' oldest son, Barton Bates, a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Cheers! bd2412 T 04:14, 12 July 2017 (UTC)