Seward, << SOO uhrd, >> William Henry (1801-1872), served as United States secretary of state during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was the leading Republican in the nation in 1860, but Abraham Lincoln defeated him for the party’s nomination. Seward worked for Lincoln’s election and entered his Cabinet as secretary of state. Because of Seward’s able administration of foreign affairs, European countries did not aid the Confederacy. He was wounded by an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth on the night that Lincoln was assassinated. He slowly recovered and continued as secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.
Among the important tasks that Seward accomplished was the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Alaska later proved valuable to the United States and finally became a state in 1959. But at the time it was mockingly called “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox.” See Alaska (American purchase).
Seward was born on May 16, 1801, in Florida, New York, and attended Union College in Schenectady, New York. He became a lawyer in 1822. Seward won election to the state legislature in 1830 and joined the Whig Party about 1834 (see Whig Party). He served as governor of New York from 1839 to 1842 and became a United States senator in 1849. Seward opposed slavery and fought its spread. He died on Oct. 10, 1872.
