On This Day

Fight with the Assassin in Secretary Seward's RoomFight with the Assassin in Secretary Seward's Room. National Police Gazette, April 22, 1865 (Photo: Smithsonian)

William Henry Seward: Another Victim of the Events of April 14, 1865

After Abraham Lincoln drew his last breath, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton said, “Now he belongs to the ages.” Stanton had spent the night sending messages to military officials and government personnel in response to the assassination. Yet he was neither the Cabinet member closest in the line of succession or, for that matter, closest to Lincoln.