No Folly: A Brief Look at William Seward



William H. Seward- 24th US Secretary of State serving with Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Photo from biography.com.



The administration of Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as one of the best in American history. Lincoln, of course, is regarded as among the best, if not THE best, president in our history. He was smart. He was the underdog choice of the new Republican Party when he won the nomination and subsequently the general election in 1860. Wisely, he surrounded himself with people, some of which were his rivals in the primary, and gave those people important roles in his cabinet (if you haven't read Doris Kearns Goodwin's "A Team of Rivals", I highly, HIGHLY recommend it). The man who became the anchor of Lincoln's cabinet is today's H-POD, William H. Seward.

Seward initially thought Lincoln highly unqualified for the job of President of the United States. Like a few others in the cabinet, he thought it should have been he that was sitting in the Oval Office. But it was Seward who would eventually become Lincoln's strongest supporter and probably his best friend and confidant in Washington. Seward too was smart, and more privy to the inner-workings of Washington politics and thus a very valuable assets to Lincoln who initially didn't have much experience in that realm (Lincoln, true to form, would quickly learn and become a savant in navigating DC's political circles). Prior to joining Lincoln's cabinet as Secretary of State, he had been a US senator from New York for twelve years. Prior to that, he had served as Governor of New York, so Seward did have quite a bit of experience that he brought to the table.

Another thing that Seward was always known for was his tenacity when it came to trying to end slavery in the South. He wrote and spoke much to that end, and even went so far as to say the unthinkable...that there is a "higher law" than the constitution which at the time still protected the institution of slavery. Beyond that, being anti-slavery was still a minority opinion among many people, north and south, so lots of credit goes to Seward for being proactive on the issue.

The evening that President Lincoln was tragically assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, the same group made an attempt on Seward's life, which he survived, but just barely. He wasn't aware until days later that Lincoln had been killed. Sadly for Seward, both his wife and daughter died within a year and a half of the attempt on Seward's life.

After a lengthy recovery, Seward stayed on as Secretary of State under Andrew Johnson. It was during this time that Seward was instrumental in purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867, famously termed "Seward's Folly" as it was thought Alaska was a barren, wild country that didn't provide any real resources of merit. How wrong we were. It wasn't until after Seward's death that the value of Alaska began to be realized.

Seward moved back to New York and passed away just a couple of years after leaving office. He had been a force in national politics for nearly thirty years, and had fought slavery when so many weren't. He was a major part of America being able to navigate and survive the Civil War as he was a key player, perhaps Lincoln's best friend, during Lincoln's administration.

So that's a little about William Seward, one of the earlier champions of civil rights and crucial player and close friend of Abe Lincoln.