William Henry Seward

Seward was one of the greatest Secretaries of State in American history. A major political figure even before he joined Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, he had been Governor of New York and was convinced as early as 1844 that slavery was the greatest political issue of his time. Running against Lincoln for the presidency and losing, he went on to work with Lincoln during the war years and he handled many aspects of afterwards -- both domestically and with Great Britain, France and initiated a farsighted Latin American Policy.