 | Our featured manuscript is from the William Henry Seward Papers. Shortly after being elected President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln wrote this letter to Seward on December 8, 1860, offering him the position of Secretary of State.
Seward, who had served as New York State Senator, Governor of New York, and United States Senator, narrowly lost the nomination for President to Lincoln at the 1860 Republication National Convention. Salmon P. Chase and Edward Bates were also strong contenders for the nomination. After being elected President, Lincoln astutely appointed these three former rivals to his cabinet: Seward as Secretary of State, Chase as Secretary of the Treasury and Bates as Attorney General.
In her new book, Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin relates how Lincoln's steadfastness of purpose, strength of personality and political adroitness persuaded these past competitors to work together to preserve the Union and bring an end to slavery. The William Henry Seward Papers were a major resource for Ms. Goodwin's research into the complicated and close relationship that developed between Lincoln and his Secretary of State.
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