Biography:

William Henry Seward served as US Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869 under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. 
After graduating from Union College in 1820 and practicing law in Auburn, NY, Seward was elected to the NY State Senate in 1830 and later elected governor of New York from 1838 to 1840. In 1849, he was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate, where he championed antislavery legislation.
Seward was a leading figure in the United States Republican Party from its founding. In 1860, Seward was a strong contender for the Republican presidential nomination, but lost to Abraham Lincoln, whose positions on slavery were considered more moderate. After winning the election, Lincoln offered the position of Secretary of State in his administration to Seward, who accepted it. Seward’s first task as Secretary of State was to negotiate between Northern and Southern political leaders in an attempt to resolve the secession crisis. During the Civil War, Seward labored to prevent foreign countries, particularly Great Britain, from recognizing and supporting the Confederacy.
Following the end of the Civil War, Seward, who continued as Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson after Lincoln’s assassination, worked to expand the United States’ territories. His greatest success in this regard was the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia. From 1865 to 1867, Seward was also heavily involved in Mexican affairs, as he supported the defeat of Austrian archduke Maximilian, whom the French had installed as Emperor of Mexico.