Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man

Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man

From one of our most acclaimed new biographers€"the first full life of the leader of Lincoln€s €œteam of rivals€ to appear in more than forty years.<br><br>William Henry Seward was one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century. Progressive governor of New York and outspoken US senator, he was the odds-on favorite to win the 1860 Republican nomination for president. As secretary of state and Lincoln€s closest adviser during the Civil War, Seward not only managed foreign affairs but had a substantial role in military, political, and personnel matters.<br> <br>Some of Lincoln€s critics even saw Seward, erroneously, as the power behind the throne; this is why John Wilkes Booth and his colleagues attempted to kill Seward as well as Lincoln. Seward survived the assassin€s attack, continued as secretary of state, and emerged as a staunch supporter of President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln€s controversial successor. Through his purchase of Alaska (€œSeward€s Folly€), and his groundwork for the purchase of the Canal Zone and other territory, Seward set America on course to become a world empire.<br> <br>Seward was not only important, he was fascinating. Most nights this well-known raconteur with unruly hair and untidy clothes would gather diplomats, soldiers, politicians, or actors around his table to enjoy a cigar, a drink, and a good story. Drawing on hundreds of sources not available to or neglected by previous biographers, Walter Stahr€s bestselling biography sheds new light on this complex and central figure, as well as on pivotal events of the Civil War and its aftermath.