lieutenant death_date children birth_date signature term_end alma_mater death_place title profession order term_start spouse image predecessor birth_place president jr/sr party state successor religion article_title birth_name
luther bradish 10 october 1872 augustus henry seward , jr. . frances adeline `` fanny '' henry seward olive risley seward -lrb- adopted -rrb- seward frederick william seward cornelia seward william 16 may 1801 william henry seward signature.svg march 31 , 1842 4 , 1869 march 3 , 1861 december union college auburn , new york united states secretary of state governor of new york lawyer , land agent , politician 24th 12th march 1 , 1839 5 , 1861 march 4 , 1849 january frances adeline seward william_h . _ seward_portrait _ - _ restoration.jpg jeremiah s. black john adams dix william l. marcy florida , new york abraham lincoln andrew johnson united states senator anti-masonic , whig , republican new york elihu b. washburne ira harris william c. bouck episcopalian william h. seward
 william henry seward
william h. seward

william henry seward -lrb- may 16 , 1801 -- october 10 , 1872 -rrb- was united states secretary of state from 1861 to 1869 , and also served as governor of new york and united states senator .
a determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the american civil war , he was a dominant figure in the republican party in its formative years .
although regarded as the leading contender for the party 's presidential nomination in 1860 , he was defeated by abraham lincoln .
seward was born in southeastern new york , where his father , a farmer , owned slaves .
he became educated as a lawyer , moving to the western new york town of auburn .
seward was elected to the new york state senate in 1830 as an anti-mason .
four years later , he became the whig party 's gubernatorial nominee .
though he was not successful in that race , seward was elected governor in 1838 , winning a second two-year term in 1840 .
during this period , he signed several laws advancing the rights and opportunities for black residents , as well as guaranteeing fugitive slaves jury trials in the state , protecting abolitionists , and using his position to intervene in cases of free blacks enslaved in the south .
after several years practicing law in auburn , he was elected by the state legislature to the u.s. senate in 1849 .
seward 's strong stances and provocative words against slavery brought him hatred in the south .
he was re-elected to the senate in 1855 , and soon joined the nascent republican party , becoming one of its leading figures .
as the 1860 presidential election cycle approached , he was regarded as the leading candidate for the republican nomination .
several factors , including attitudes to his vocal opposition to slavery , his support for immigrants and catholics , and his association with editor and political boss thurlow weed , combined to defeat him .
although devastated by his loss , he campaigned for lincoln , who was elected , and who appointed him secretary of state .
seward did his best to stop the southern states from seceding ; once that failed , he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the union cause .
his firm stance against foreign intervention in the civil war helped deter britain and france from entering the conflict and possibly gaining the independence of the confederate states .
he was one of the targets of the 1865 assassination plot that killed lincoln , and was seriously wounded by conspirator lewis powell .
seward remained loyally at his post through the presidency of andrew johnson , during which he achieved the alaska purchase .
his contemporary carl schurz described seward as `` one of those spirits who sometimes will go ahead of public opinion instead of tamely following its footprints . ''
