William Henry Seward and the Secession Crisis: The Effort to Prevent Civil War

by Lawrence M. Denton

From the publisher:
Though Abraham Lincoln took center stage in a divided country, a political rival-turned-ally had a major influence on national affairs during Lincoln's presidency. William Henry Seward, U.S. senator and former governor, lost the Republican Party nomination for president in 1860, but aided Lincoln's election by touring the country on behalf of the Republican ticket. As some Southern states prepared to withdraw from the Union, Secretary of State Seward sought to reunite the country. This biography explores Seward's political power and the theory that, as president, he might have prevented the Civil War.

Lawrence M. Denton of Oxford, Maryland, is an author and lecturer on the secession crisis in Maryland. A former academic administrator at Johns Hopkins University and a presidential appointee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he also worked for The Weather Channel and helped produce the television series Forecast Earth.