Existing comment:
William H. Seward, 1801-1872
Having served as governor of New York and later as a United States senator, William H. Seward was better known and a more seasoned candidate than his chief rival, Abraham Lincoln, for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 1860. But Seward's belief that the struggle between the slave and free states was "an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces" had alienated moderate Republicans. In the end, Seward supported Lincoln actively and became his secretary of state. So closely was he associated with Lincoln's policies that he was attacked on the night the president was assassinated, in an unsuccessful attempt to cripple the government.
Giovanni Maria Benzoni, 1872 |