William H. Seward
William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 - October 16, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.
Seward served as a state senator of New York from 1831 to 1834, as Governor of New York from 1839 to 1843, and as a United States Senator from New York from 1849 through 1861. 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. This translated into approximately 2.5 cents per acre for 586,400 square miles of territory, three times the size of Texas. The purchase of this frontier land ("Seward's Icebox") was mocked as "Seward's Folly" and Andrew Johnson's "polar bear garden".
His portrait appeared on the 1891 series fifty dollar treasury note.
Referenced By
1867 | 30 March | 30th March | Carl Schurz | Compromise Measures of 1850 | Compromise of 1850 | Ely Parker | Governor of New York | List of Governors of New York | List of New York Governors | List of United States Senators from New York | List of people by name: Se | List of people on stamps of the United States | March 30 | March 30th | People on stamps of the United States | Secretary of State of the United States | Seward | The Trent Affair | Trent Affair | U.S. Secretary of State | U.S. presidential election, 1860 | US Secretary Of State | United States Presidential election of 1860 | United States Secretary of State | William Morgan (anti-Mason)
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