Portal:American Civil War/Selected biography/11

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William Henry Seward, Sr. (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Seward was born in Florida, New York, a community (which since has incorporated as a village) in Orange County, New York. He was elected United States Senator from New York from 1849 through 1861. With the decline in the fortunes of the Whig Party, Seward joined the Republican Party in 1855 and was reelected senator from New York. By this time Seward had moderated his views and became less associated with the group known as the Radical Republicans. Seward lost the presidential nomination to John C. Frémont in 1856. He was expected to get the nomination in 1860 but many of the delegates feared that his radical past would prevent him from winning the election.

Abraham Lincoln appointed him Secretary of State in 1861 and he served until 1869. As Secretary of State, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia for $7,200,000 on March 30, 1867.