The Real Dan­ger is vivid­ly depict­ed in this chap­ter, as the Unit­ed States faces an esca­lat­ing cri­sis with Abra­ham Lin­coln on the verge of tak­ing office. The ten­sion sur­round­ing the nation inten­si­fies, par­tic­u­lar­ly with the pres­ence of Ander­son at Fort Sumter, sig­nal­ing the grow­ing unrest in the South. As Lin­coln pre­pares to step into a divid­ed and volatile nation, his frus­tra­tions mount due to the polit­i­cal vac­u­um left by the out­go­ing Pres­i­dent Buchanan, who fails to take any deci­sive action in the face of mount­ing unrest. Addi­tion­al­ly, Lin­coln is inun­dat­ed with peti­tions for polit­i­cal appoint­ments, with many seek­ing posi­tions in the new admin­is­tra­tion, adding to the pres­sure of an already tense sit­u­a­tion. Fur­ther com­pli­cat­ing the atmos­phere are omi­nous threats of plots against the cap­i­tal, which only exac­er­bate Lincoln’s anx­i­ety. A warn­ing from rad­i­cal sen­a­tor Louis T. Wig­fall of Texas fur­ther fuels the grow­ing con­cern, as he sug­gests the pos­si­bil­i­ty of seces­sion­ists seiz­ing the cap­i­tal before Lin­col­n’s inau­gu­ra­tion. This news only serves to height­en the sense of impend­ing dan­ger, cast­ing a long shad­ow over the nation’s future.

Amid the grow­ing chaos, Lincoln’s inau­gur­al speech becomes a heavy bur­den. He feels the weight of the moment and the grav­i­ty of his impend­ing role as pres­i­dent of a frac­tured coun­try. Desir­ing to take the oath of office imme­di­ate­ly, Lin­coln laments the fact that the exist­ing admin­is­tra­tion has done lit­tle to address the brew­ing cri­sis and the threat of seces­sion. His frus­tra­tion is mir­rored by his friend Thur­low Weed, who express­es regret that Lin­coln can­not assume office soon­er, as he rec­og­nizes the urgency of the sit­u­a­tion. In the South, con­gress­man Alexan­der H. Stephens adds to the pres­sure by urg­ing Lin­coln to act deci­sive­ly to “save our com­mon coun­try,” under­scor­ing the deep divi­sion with­in the polit­i­cal land­scape. These exchanges high­light the nation­al divide, with some advo­cat­ing for stronger lead­er­ship, while oth­ers, like Stephens, hope that a swift res­o­lu­tion can be achieved before things spi­ral fur­ther out of con­trol.

Despite these mount­ing pres­sures, Lin­coln does receive some pos­i­tive news when William Seward final­ly agrees to accept the role of sec­re­tary of state, although it comes with some delay. Seward, under­stand­ing the grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion, advis­es Lin­coln to arrive in Wash­ing­ton ear­li­er than planned in order to help mit­i­gate any poten­tial unrest. While Lin­coln is reas­sured by Com­mand­ing Gen­er­al Win­field Scott’s promise of pro­tec­tion, he remains pre­oc­cu­pied with the upcom­ing elec­toral vote count sched­uled for Feb­ru­ary 13, 1861. Lin­coln believes this vote, which will deter­mine the future course of the coun­try, holds far greater risks than his inau­gur­al address. The antic­i­pa­tion sur­round­ing the vote height­ens the sense of uncer­tain­ty, as Lin­coln knows the out­come could either sta­bi­lize the nation or send it fur­ther into chaos. The loom­ing vote becomes an addi­tion­al pres­sure point, reflect­ing the broad­er polit­i­cal insta­bil­i­ty as the coun­try teeters on the brink of war.

As the year draws to a close, the mood in Wash­ing­ton grows increas­ing­ly bleak. Kezi­ah Bre­vard, a Charleston planter, voic­es her fears about the future through a vivid night­mare that encap­su­lates the tur­bu­lent and uncer­tain path ahead for the coun­try. New Year’s Day in Wash­ing­ton is marked by a pal­pa­ble sense of dread, despite the bright weath­er. Charles Fran­cis Adams, a promi­nent fig­ure at the time, observes the somber atmos­phere in the city, not­ing that, while there were some pos­i­tive devel­op­ments, such as the appoint­ment of Joseph Holt as Sec­re­tary of War, the mood remained grim. The appoint­ment, though seen as a step for­ward by some, also sparked con­cerns. Texas sen­a­tor Louis T. Wig­fall, in par­tic­u­lar, viewed Holt’s appoint­ment as an indi­ca­tor of the impend­ing con­flict, fur­ther under­scor­ing the deep divi­sions with­in the coun­try. His belief that Holt’s appoint­ment fore­shad­owed war adds to the grow­ing sense of dread that hangs over Wash­ing­ton and the nation as a whole.

The chap­ter con­cludes with the recog­ni­tion that the nation is on the brink of a full-scale civ­il war. The polit­i­cal and social divi­sions with­in the coun­try are no longer abstract con­cepts but tan­gi­ble real­i­ties that will soon affect the lives of every Amer­i­can. Lin­coln, hav­ing tak­en office, will be forced to con­front the real­i­ty of a nation at war with itself, with the threats of seces­sion loom­ing large. The Real Dan­ger is not just a mat­ter of polit­i­cal dis­cord but the exis­ten­tial cri­sis fac­ing the very fab­ric of the Union. The chap­ter paints a vivid pic­ture of the uncer­tain­ty and fear that gripped the nation dur­ing this crit­i­cal peri­od, offer­ing read­ers a pow­er­ful insight into the emo­tion­al and polit­i­cal tur­bu­lence of the time. Lincoln’s pres­i­den­cy, which begins amidst such tur­moil, will ulti­mate­ly be defined by his response to these chal­lenges and his abil­i­ty to nav­i­gate the del­i­cate bal­ance between pre­serv­ing the Union and address­ing the deep-root­ed issues of slav­ery and seces­sion.