William Seward, President Lincoln’s faithful Secretary of State, served in Lincoln’s and then Johnson’s cabinet from 1861 to 1869. He opposed the spread of slavery. When he lost the Republican Presidential nomination in 1860, he supported Abraham Lincoln with a speaking tour in the West. As Secretary of State, he advocated expansionist policies, but opposed intervention. He survived an assassination attempt on April 14, 1865, by Lewis Powell, a co-conspirator of John Wilkes Booth. During Johnson’s presidency, he defended moderate reconciliation policies in the South and successfully negotiated the Alaskan territory from Russia.
The advance of the Gunboats up the river to New Berne, N. Carolina. Passing the Barricade
Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
