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Simon Cameron, 1799-1889
Businessman-turned-politician Simon Cameron allied himself with the Jacksonian Democrats and then with the nativist Know-Nothings before joining the Republican Party in 1856. A master of machine politics, Cameron enjoyed powerful backing from Pennsylvania Republicans when he sought his party's presidential nomination in 1860. After the fight for the nomination became a contest between Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward, Lincoln's backers made a bid to secure Pennsylvania's support for their candidate by promising Cameron a prominent place in Lincoln's administration. Wary of Cameron's reputation for corruption, Lincoln balked at offering him a cabinet post, but when Cameron forced his hand, Lincoln reluctantly made him secretary of war. Cameron's tenure in that position was brief and controversial, and in 1862 he left to serve as U.S. minister to Russia.
This portrait is typical of the elaborately hand-colored images introduced by a number of major photography studios in the late 1850s.
Unidentified artist, possibly Bendann Brothers Studio, c 1860 |