Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury was Salmon Chase; Lincoln gave him authority to "handle the finances" of the war. The war was costing $ 532 million a year while the entire budget per year was $ 55 million. The budget cost was covered by taxes and tariffs. Chase "devised the strategy for funding the war with new taxes and special bond sales and developed the national network of local banks" to sell the bonds.
(Source: "But who's handling the finances?" by the editors of AARP Bulletin for Jan/Feb 2009).
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