Edwin Stanton: Difference between revisions

Edwin Stanton
A portrait of Edwin Stanton
27th United States Secretary of War
In office January 20, 1862 – May 28, 1868
President	Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson
Preceded by	Simon Cameron
Succeeded by	John M. Schofield
25th United States Attorney General
In office December 20, 1860 – March 4, 1861
President	James Buchanan
Preceded by	Jeremiah S. Black
Succeeded by	Edward Bates
Personal details
Born	Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-12-19)December 19, 1814 Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 24, 1869(1869-12-24) (aged 55) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican
Other political affiliations	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Lamson Stanton Ellen Hutchison Stanton
Alma mater	Kenyon College
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Signature

Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's effective management helped organize the massive military resources of the North and guide the Union to victory. He also organized the manhunt for Lincoln's killer, John Wilkes Booth.

After Lincoln's assassination, Stanton remained as the Secretary of War under the new President Andrew Johnson during the first years of Reconstruction. He opposed the lenient policies of Johnson towards the former Confederate States. Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton ultimately led to President Johnson being impeached by the House of Representatives. Stanton returned to law after retiring as Secretary of War, and in 1869 was nominated as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by Johnson's successor, Ulysses S. Grant; however, he died four days after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate.

Family and early life

Family ancestry

Prior to the American Revolution, Stanton's paternal ancestors, the Stantons and the Macys, both of whom were Quakers, moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina. In 1774, Stanton's grandfather, Benjamin Stanton, married Abigail Macy. Benjamin Stanton wanted to free his slaves, as many Quakers in the North did; however, this was not something permitted in North Carolina. Instead, Benjamin resolved to require in his will that "all the poor black people that ever belonged to me be entirely free whenever the law of the land will allow, until which time, my executor I leave as guardian to protect them and see that they be not deprived of their rights, or in any way misused." Benjamin Stanton died in 1800. That year, Stanton's widow, Abigail, moved to Northwest Territory, where slavery was disallowed. Abigail Macy was accompanied by six of her children, along with her married daughter and her son-in-law. Two years afterwards, Macy's three remaining daughters, who were now married, also came to the territory. Soon, Ohio was admitted to the Union, and Abigail Macy proved to be one of the early developers of the new state. Macy bought a tract of land at Mount Pleasant, Ohio from the government and settled there. One of her sons, David, became a physician in Steubenville, and married Lucy Norman, the daughter of a Virginia plantation owner. Their marriage was met with the ire of Ohio's Quaker community, as Lucy was a Methodist, and not a Quaker. This forced David Stanton to abandon the Quaker sect. However, Stanton remained an abolitionist vehemently opposed to slavery. As Andrew Carnegie put it, he "labor[ed] even in that early day to impress his fellows with the wrongfulness of slavery."

Early life and education

Stanton's birthplace in Steubenville, Ohio

The first of David and Lucy Stanton's four children, Edwin McMasters Stanton, was born to them on December 19, 1814 in Steubenville, Ohio. The Stanton's later had two daughters, Oella and Pamphilia, and another son, Darwin. In his youth, Edwin was "physically delicate, grave and studious," as well as frank, eloquent and empathetic. Edwin was also quite mature for his age. He was fond of giving monologues to the children in his neighborhood on such topics as God, the Bible, Moses and the Great Flood, something he did in a stable at the rear of the family's home. And when Edwin's father put a human skeleton in the same stable, hoping that Edwin would study the skeleton and gain an interest in becoming a physician, he lectured his peers on that as well.

Stanton began his formal education at a private school when he was seven years old. The following year, he was trained at a seminary that was behind the Stanton's residence, called "Old Academy". When he was ten, Edwin was transferred to a school taught by a Presbyterian minister, Reverend George Buchanan, studying Latin, Greek, history and other "higher branches". While under Buchanan's tutelage, and with the Reverend's assistance, Stanton created a "natural history museum" of sorts, collecting such things as insects, frogs, birds and snakes. He and his brother, Darwin, would even coil the snakes around their bodies to frighten their neighbors. It was also at the age of ten that Stanton experienced his first asthma attack, a malady that would haunt him for the rest of his left, and would even make him convulse at times. His asthma assured him that he would be unable to partake in sports or other highly physical activities, so he found interest in other things. Edwin was a voracious reader, and had a "fondness for poetry and [a] greed for books," and even formed a "circulating library" where books were borrowed among him and his friends. Stanton's interest in religion led him to attend Sunday school, and Methodist Church services regularly. In January 1827, Edwin became a probationary member of the Methodist Church. On December 24 of that year, at the age of thirteen, Stanton passed his religious knowledge test, and was allowed to become a full member of the church.

David Stanton's medical practice afforded him and his family a decent, but not quite wealthy existence. When David Stanton died of apoplexy on December 30, 1827 at his residence, his widow and her four children were left destitute. Edwin's mother opened a store in the front room of their residence, selling the medical supplies her husband left her, along with books, stationery and groceries. A youthful Edwin, the eldest of the Stanton children but still only thirteen, was removed from school, and employed at the store of a local bookseller, James Turnbull. His wage was only four dollars a month ($115 today), but to the impoverished Lucy Stanton, this money was not inconsiderable.

Although he was no longer formally in school, Stanton was tutored by Reverend Buchanan in the evenings. Reverend Buchanan's tutelage prepared Stanton for Kenyon College, a school he was admitted into in 1831 at the age of seventeen. At Kenyon, Stanton worked earnestly at his studies, and occasionally got himself into mischief. Stanton was also prominently involved in Kenyon's Philomathesian Literary Society. He sat on several of the society's committees, and often partook in its exercises and debates. One such debate concerned States' rights, and the Nullification Crisis of 1832. Stanton adamantly opposed John Calhoun's view that individual states were greater than the United States. The debate grew so contentious that several of the Philomathesians from the Southern States who did subscribe to Calhoun's theory left to form another society. Afterwards, Stanton became the reconstructed Philomathesian Society's secretary. A lack of money meant that Stanton was unable to finish at the Kenyon, and left in September 1832. Stanton had completed his courses on history, mathematics, chemistry, political economy, geology and Latin. In 1833, Stanton was again employed by Mr. Turnbull, but this time was sent to Columbus, Ohio to run a bookstore there. Stanton had hoped to obtain enough money to complete his final year at Kenyon. However, with such a small salary, he dismissed the notion of returning to college, and left the employ of Mr. Turnbull permanently. Stanton then took up studies in jurisprudence. He returned to Steubenville and pursued law studies with "unremitting industry."

Around this time, at the age of eighteen, Stanton attended Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, and met Mary Ann Lamson, the priest's sister-in-law. He was engaged to her soon after, but refused to marry her until his law studies were finished. His studies did finally finish after three years of "well-directed and vigorous work at his books," when in August 1835, Stanton went to St. Clairsville, Ohio to take his bar examination and passed, thus allowing for him to practice law. The following January, Stanton began working at a prominent law firm in Cadiz, Ohio, the seat of Harrison County, which was operated by Chauncey Dewey, a wealthy and well-known attorney.

Early career

With Dewey, Stanton worked tirelessly and his law career began to flourish; this took a toll on his health, leaving him severely sick. In the summer of 1836, Stanton's mother also fell ill. Despite his own ailments, Stanton hurried to Steubenville, where he found that his sister Oella had left school to become a housekeeper and tend to their mother. Without a home of his own, Edwin sent Lucy Stanton to her father's home in Virginia. When he returned to Cadiz, Stanton established a law practice separate from Chauncey Dewey in the upper level of a local carpenter's shop. Rather than paying rent, Stanton gave the carpenter legal advice and often ate meals at his home. He also concluded that he should delay marrying his betrothed no longer. After buying a home on the fringes of Cadiz, he went to Columbus, where Mary Lamson was. Stanton and Lamson had wished to be married at the Trinity Episcopal Church where they had met, but Stanton's illness rendered this idea moot. Instead, the ceremony was performed at the home of Reverend William Preston, the rector at Trinity Episcopal, on December 31, 1836.

After their union, Edwin and Mary went on what Edwin called "the brightest, sweetest journey of all my life," a 125-mile (201-kilometre) sleigh ride from Columbus to the couple's new home in the outskirts of Cadiz. Soon after, Stanton left his wife to visit the home of Benjamin Tappan in Steubenville. Stanton had been acquainted with Tappan from a young age, as he and Tappan's son had attended school together at one point. Tappan was also a good friend for Stanton to have; he was a wealthy man who was well connected politically – these connections got him a nomination for a position as a federal judge, which was eventually rejected in the United States Senate – and, like Stanton, Tappan had a disdain for slavery, but unlike his brothers, Tappan was more quiet about his abolitionist tendencies. At Tappan's home, the two men agreed to form a partnership to practice law in Steubenville, even though Stanton would maintain his residence in Cadiz. When the partnership was done, Stanton sojourned to Virginia where his mother and sisters were, and then escorted the women back to Cadiz, where they would live with him and his wife.

There was a notable change in Edwin Stanton after his marriage. According to Stanton's sister Pamphilia, Edwin and Mary Stanton were very much in love, and Stanton himself said in a letter to a friend that "his reprehensible qualities had been repressed by her presence," and that he was "very happy." At nights, Stanton often gave an account of the day's happenings to his family, or read books to them. Oella and Pamphilia were often kept busy by their mother's recurring illnesses, and were unable to attend school, so Stanton prodded them to read such works as Plutarch's Lives, and poems by John Greenleaf Whittier, an abolitionist, and William Cullen Bryant, the author of the acclaimed poem "Thanatopsis". In Cadiz, Stanton situated himself prominently in the local community. He worked with the town's anti-slavery society, and with a local newspaper, the Sentinel, writing and editing articles there. In 1837, Stanton was elected the prosecutor of Harrison County on the Democratic ticket. The position paid a relatively small sum of $200 ($5,558 today), but allowed Stanton to purchase eighty acres (thirty-two hectares) of land in Washington County, and several lots in Cadiz.

Stanton's relationship with Benjamin Tappan experienced several substantial changes in the time subsequent to their partnership. Stanton's sister Oella was married to Tappan's son; and Tappan, having been elected the United States Senator from Ohio in December 1838, needed someone to tend to his legal practice, and chose Stanton. This led the twenty-four year old Stanton to return to Steubenville when his term as county prosecutor was finished in the fall of 1839. He purchased a home on Third Street in Steubenville for $800 ($25,197 today). It was only him and his wife who lived in the house initially, as his mother and sister had moved to Hollidays Cove, West Virginia to live with Stanton's brother Darwin, who had recently completed a medical education at Harvard University. However, when Darwin was married in July 1839 to a woman named Nancy Hooker, Lucy and Pamphilia Stanton resumed their residency with Edwin and his wife. Stanton's work in politics also expanded; he was a delegate at the Democrats' 1840 national convention in Baltimore, and was featured prominently in Martin Van Buren's campaign in the 1840 presidential election. However, when Van Buren lost the election to his Whig rival, William Henry Harrison, Stanton supposedly took a step back from politics. On March 11, 1840, Edwin and Mary Stanton welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Lucy Lamson. Later, Stanton would recollect this time as the happiest time in his life. He "adored the baby, loved his wife, was advancing in the profession he wanted to practice, and was overcoming the financial problems that had beset the family for so many years."

Edwin Stanton's joy turned to fear and anxiety when baby Lucy, just months after he birth, was stricken by an unknown illness. Stanton gave all of his work to six acolytes who worked at his law practice, left active politics and spent the summer of 1841 at Lucy Lamson Stanton's bedside. On September 17, 1841, Stanton received "his first taste of real sorrow," with the death of his young daughter. Mary Stanton, who had also lost her sister about this time, became ill soon after, and Edwin's grief left him disoriented and unfocused. At the urging of his wife and sister, who felt he was in need of a distraction, Stanton returned to law and politics. Issues relating to the Panic of 1837 and the Second Bank of the United States left Democrats in the country split. Originally, Democrats were united in their enmity towards the bank's influence of the federal government; now, some members of the party were "revolting", endorsing Whig-backed pro-bank articles. Stanton worked with other party members to control and suppress the contention among Democrats. He wanted the nonconformist Democrats "severely punished", but party leaders, fearing that harsh treatment might turn party members toward the Whig cause, chose to reaccept the dissenters back into the party.{{sfn|Thomas|Hyman|1962|pp=26– On March 7, 1842 Stanton was elected by the Ohio Legislature to a three-year term as the Supreme Court of Ohio's court reporter, a position which paid $300 a year ($9775 today). The following month, Stanton went to Virginia to assist his brother Darwin to be elected as a Whig to the state's lower house, an election he won; Darwin, with his brother's help, was again elected the next spring to the same position, but as a Democrat. On August 11, 1842, the gap which was left by the death of Lucy was filled by the birth of a healthy and active son, who was name Edwin Lamson. After the birth of the little boy, "the spirits of the Stanton family notably revived." By December of that year, Stanton had returned to Columbus, where he had been just before the birth of his son, to "widen his acquaintance with lawyers and politicians." In Columbus, Stanton was befriended by Salmon P. Chase. Chase, a lawyer from Cincinnati, was nicknamed "the attorney general for runaway slaves," and tried to engage him with the abolitionist movement and the newly-formed and ardently-abolitionist Liberty Party. Stanton thought that an abolitionism was best suited to the Democratic Party, rather than a third party. Both men remained intransigent in their beliefs, but became friends.

W.S. Buchanan on Mary's death

I can hardly speak adequately of the death of Mary, which occurred two days before the meeting of the March term of the supreme court. As Stanton was engaged in every case, no court was held in Jefferson County for that term. He could not work and could not be consoled. He walked the floor incessantly, crying and moaning. At night he placed her night cap and gown and cried and cried for his dear Mary. After her burial he himself put white stones around the grave, and visited it every morning early to see if a single one has been removed and also to place flowers on his beloved one's breast. He not only did this, but for some days sent his gardener, Alfred Taylor, to guard like a soldier the resting place of his idolized wife.

–William Stanton (W.S.) Buchanan, a student, then partner in Stanton's law office.

Stanton spent most of 1843 rallying the Democrats in the Ohioan counties of Jackson and Carroll around Martin Van Buren in advance of the 1844 Democratic National Convention. The nomination went to, not Van Buren, but a "dark horse" candidate, James K. Polk, but by the time this happened, Stanton was more preoccupied with grief than anything else. In February 1844, Mary Stanton was left bedridden by a "bilious fever". Her condition continued to worsen until she died on March 13. Stanton's grief "verged on insanity." He had Mary's burial attire redone repeatedly, as he demanded she look just as she had when they were wed seven years prior. "This is my bride and she shall be dressed and buried like a bride," he declared. In the evenings, Stanton would emerge from his room with his filled with the tears and search the house frantically with a lamp, all the while asking, "Where is Mary?" Stanton's wits regrouped about him eventually, but even then he continued to read Mary's letters. He eventually compiled the letters and gave them to his son and other relatives. "She was my guide, my counselor, and my familiar friend," Stanton wrote to his son. "It is better therefore to place some memorial of your mother [...] so that when you grow older you can [...] have her words, her example, her prayers, to counsel and direct you." Stanton's days were gloomy, but he managed to come out of his stupor to ensure that his family was well-to-do. By the middle of summer in 1844 Stanton returned to lawyering, but mostly abstained himself from politics and focused, almost obsessively, on his legal cases. The following year, Stanton spent the majority of his time working for his clients.

Antebellum career

Stanton's home in Washington, D.C.

Stanton began his political life as a lawyer in Ohio and as an antislavery Democrat. After leaving Kenyon College he returned to Steubenville in 1833 to get a job to support his family. He began studying law, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1835. At 21, he argued his first court case. Stanton built a house in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio, and practiced law there until 1847, when he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He resided at one point in Richmond, Ohio, in what is now Everhart Bove Funeral Home.

Stanton and Clement Vallandigham were very close friends before the Civil War. Stanton loaned Vallandigham $500 for a course and to begin a law practice. Both Vallandigham and Stanton were Democrats, but had opposing views of slavery.

Legal career

In 1835 Stanton passed the Ohio state bar and began practicing as a lawyer. Over the next 10 years, he built a robust law practice in Ohio. He then moved his law practice to Pittsburgh before settling in Washington, D.C., in 1856. While in Washington, Stanton was involved in several high-profile legal cases, including the murder trial of future Union General Daniel Sickles, in which he made one of the earliest successful uses of the insanity defense.

Relationship with Lincoln prior to the Civil War

Stanton first met Lincoln in the McCormick-Many Reaper Trial, better known as the “Reaper” suit. The John Manny Company of Rockford, Illinois, was indicted with a patent infringement charge by Cyrus McCormick, the original inventor of the reaping machine. The case was an important test case between several outstanding patent lawyers, Edward Dickerson of New York and former Attorney General Reverdy Johnson for McCormick, against George Harding. As the case was to be tried before a judge in Chicago, Harding decided to engage a local lawyer who best understood the judge. Lincoln’s name was recommended. No sooner had Lincoln started working on the legal arguments, had Harding received word that the case had been transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati. The change of venue to Ohio allowed Harding the partner with Edwin Stanton, his original choice.

Unaware of the new circumstances, Lincoln made his way to Cincinnati, where he introduced himself in front of Harding and Stanton, proposing “Let’s go up in a gang.” At this point, Stanton drew Harding aside and whispered, “Why did you bring that long armed Ape here...he does not know anything and can do you no good.” With that Stanton and Harding turned from Lincoln and continued to court on their own. In the days that followed, Stanton made it clear that Lincoln was expected to remove himself from the case.

Daniel Sickles' Murder trial

Edwin Stanton was among the group of defenders for Daniel Sickles. In the case, he made use of a plea of temporary insanity plea for the first time in the legal history of America, arguing that Sickles was simply too overcome with passion to control himself. And despite Daniel Sickles own infidelity, the case quickly flipped from a murder trial to an adultery trial, publicly scorning Teresa and making a kind of hero out of Sickles. After a 20-day trial, Sickles was found not guilty.

Political career

Stanton was sent to California in 1858 by the U.S. Attorney General as special Federal agent for the settlement of land claims, where he succeeded in breaking up a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government of vast tracts of land of considerable value.

Attorney general

In 1860 Stanton gave up a successful law practice and was appointed United States Attorney General in the lame-duck presidential administration of James Buchanan. He strongly opposed secession, and is credited by historians for changing Buchanan's governmental position away from tolerating secession to denouncing it as unconstitutional and illegal.

Time of war

Civil War

After Lincoln was elected president, Stanton agreed to work as a legal adviser to the inefficient Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, who was reassigned by Lincoln because of allegations of corruption. Cameron was replaced by Stanton on January 15, 1862. He accepted the position only to "help save the country", giving up his private practice and a salary of nearly fifty thousand dollars a year for the post with a salary of eight thousand dollars as a patriotic duty. He was very effective in administering the huge War Department, but devoted considerable energy to the prosecution of Union officers whom he suspected of having traitorous sympathies for the South, the most notable of whom was Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter. Stanton used his power as Secretary to ensure that every general who sat on the court-martial would vote for conviction or else be unable to obtain career advancement.

On August 8, 1862, Stanton issued an order to "arrest and imprison any person or persons who may be engaged, by act, speech or writing, in discouraging volunteer enlistments, or in any way giving aid and comfort to the enemy, or in any other disloyal practice against the United States".

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter
(People in the image are clickable.)

The president recognized Stanton's ability, but whenever necessary Lincoln managed to "plow around him". Stanton once tried to fire the Chief of the War Department Telegraph Office, Thomas Eckert. Lincoln prevented this by praising Eckert to Stanton. Yet, when pressure was exerted to remove the unpopular secretary from office, Lincoln refused. He said of Stanton:

He is the rock on the beach of our national ocean against which the breakers dash and roar, dash and roar without ceasing. He fights back the angry waters and prevents them from undermining and overwhelming the land. Gentlemen, I do not see how he survives, why he is not crushed and torn to pieces. Without him I should be destroyed.

— President Abraham Lincoln, on Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton

Running The Machine
An 1864 cartoon featuring Stanton, William Fessenden, Abraham Lincoln, William Seward and Gideon Welles takes a swing at the Lincoln administration

Stanton became a Republican and apparently changed his opinion of Lincoln.

Lincoln's assassination

Main article: Abraham Lincoln assassination

On April 15, 1865, Stanton rushed to the Petersen House, where President Lincoln had been taken after he had been shot at Ford's Theatre. Upon hearing that Secretary of State William H. Seward had been stabbed, he became convinced that South was making one last-ditch effort to destroy the United States. The Secretary of War took charge of the scene at the theater immediately, dispatching 1,500 soldiers to track down the perpetrators and offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information that would lead to their capture. Mary Lincoln was so unhinged by the experience of the assassination that Stanton had her ordered from the room by shouting, "Take that woman out and do not let her in again!" At Lincoln's death Stanton uttered what became a memorable quote "Now he belongs to the ages" (or possibly "angels"), and lamented, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." He vigorously pursued the apprehension and prosecution of the conspirators involved in Lincoln's assassination. These proceedings were not handled by the civil courts, but by a military tribunal, and therefore under Stanton's tutelage. Stanton has subsequently been accused of witness tampering, most notably of Louis J. Weichmann, and of other activities that skewed the outcome of the trials.

Stanton's Supreme Court nomination

Andrew Johnson's administration

Stanton continued to hold the position of secretary of war under President Andrew Johnson until 1868. Stanton strongly disagreed with Johnson's plan to readmit the seceded states to the Union without guarantees of civil rights for freed slaves. The two clashed over implementation of Reconstruction policy, and Johnson dismissed Stanton and named Ulysses S. Grant as his replacement. The dismissal was overruled by the Senate. Stanton barricaded himself in his office when Johnson tried again to dismiss him, this time appointing Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas as his successor. Radical Republicans initiated impeachment proceedings against Johnson on the grounds that Johnson's removal of Stanton without Senate approval violated the Tenure of Office Act. Stanton played a central role in the attempt to impeach President Andrew Johnson. Johnson avoided removal from office by a single vote in the Senate.

U.S. Supreme Court appointment and death

After this, Stanton resigned and returned to the practice of law. He campaigned heavily for Ulysses S. Grant in 1868, and Grant rewarded him with an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1869. The Senate confirmed Stanton on December 19. However, Stanton (whose health had worsened during the war), suffered a severe asthma attack on December 23, and died at 4:00 a.m. on December 24, 1869, in Washington, D.C.

Stanton was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the city. Because Stanton died before taking the oath of office, he is not considered to have officially joined the Supreme Court.

Personal life

Stanton with his son, Edwin Lamson Stanton

On May 31, 1836, Stanton married Mary Lamson, and they had two children: Lucy Lamson Stanton (born March 11, 1837) and Edwin Lamson Stanton (born August 1842). They built a house in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio, where Stanton practiced law. Their daughter Lucy died in 1841 and their son Edwin died in 1877.

Mary Stanton died on March 13, 1844. The loss of his beloved wife sent Stanton spiraling into a deep depression. Then, in 1846, Stanton's brother Darwin cut his own throat – "The blood spouted up to the ceiling", a doctor recalled.

So many losses in so short a time changed Stanton, replacing a hearty good humor with a brusque, even rude, intensity. He moved to Pittsburgh, lost himself in legal work, and turned into a ferocious litigator. He also met and wooed Ellen Hutchison, who became his second wife and later survived him. While in Washington, Stanton worshipped at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, where he rented the pew vacated by Senator Jefferson Davis upon his resignation and secession.

Stanton had taken a large pay cut to serve as Secretary of War, and his finances were not in good shape when he died. Congress voted Mrs. Stanton a sum the equivalent of one year's pension for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, since her late husband had been confirmed to the Court but not sworn in. Friends also collected a generous fund to care for her and her family.

Stanton on U.S. postage

The 1st Stanton postage stamp, issue of 1871

Edwin Stanton was the second American other than a U.S. President to appear on a U.S. postage issue, the first being Benjamin Franklin, who appeared on a stamp in 1847. The only Stanton stamp was issued March 6, 1871. This was also the only stamp issued by the post office that year. The Stanton 7-cent stamp paid the single rate postage for letters sent from the U.S. to various countries in Europe.

Legacy

"The Situation", a Harper's Weekly cartoon gives a humorous breakdown of "the situation". Stanton aims a cannon labeled "Congress" on the side at President Andrew Johnson and Lorenzo Thomas to show how he was using Congress to defeat the president and his unsuccessful replacement. He also holds a ramrod marked "Tenure of Office Bill" and cannonballs on the floor are marked "Justice". Ulysses S. Grant and an unidentified man stand to Stanton's left.

Stanton depicted on a $1 1891 Treasury Note.

A distinctive engraved portrait of Stanton appeared on U.S. paper money in 1890 and 1891. The bills are called "treasury notes" or "coin notes" and are widely collected today. These rare notes are considered by many to be among the finest examples of detailed engraving ever to appear on banknotes. The $1 Stanton "fancyback" note of 1890, with an estimated 900–1,300 in existence relative to the millions printed, ranks as number 83 in the "100 Greatest American Currency Notes" compiled by Bowers and Sundman (2006). Stanton also appears on the fourth issue of Fractional currency, in the amount of 50 cents. Stanton Park, four blocks from the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is named for him, as is Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, Florida. A steam engine, built in 1862, was named the "E. M. Stanton" in honor of the new Secretary of War. Stanton County, Nebraska, is named for him. Stanton Middle School in Hammondsville, Ohio, is named after him. A neighborhood in Pittsburgh is named for him (Stanton Heights) as well as its main thoroughfare (Stanton Avenue).

The Edwin M. Stanton School (Jacksonville) in Florida and Edwin M. Stanton School (Philadelphia) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In popular culture

• In the 1930s, a book written by Otto Eisenschiml accused Stanton of arranging the assassination of Lincoln. Although these charges remain largely unsubstantiated, Eisenschim's book inspired considerable debate and the 1977 book and movie, The Lincoln Conspiracy.
• In 1930, Stanton was portrayed by Oscar Apfel in the movie Abraham Lincoln.
• In 1955, Stanton was portrayed by Richard H. Cutting in the movie The Gun That Won the West.
• In 1972, Stanton appears in Philip K. Dick's We Can Build You in the form of a self-aware, cybernetic automaton.
• In 1980, Stanton was portrayed by Richard A. Dysart in the TV movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd.
• In 1998, Stanton was portrayed by Eddie Jones in the TV movie The Day Lincoln Was Shot.
• Stanton appears prominently in the alternate history Civil War trilogy by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen.
• Stanton Davis Kirkham was named after Stanton by his father, Murray S. Davis, one-time confidential military aide to Stanton during his period as Secretary of War.
• In the Clive Cussler thriller novel Sahara, Stanton is described as being behind a cover-up of Lincoln's kidnapping and later death, in Confederate custody, aboard the ironclad CSS Texas. Lincoln's body is later recovered by Dirk Pitt and given a state funeral in the Lincoln memorial.
• In 2011, Stanton was portrayed by Kevin Kline in the Robert Redford film The Conspirator.
• Stanton was played by Bruce McGill in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln.
• Stanton is portrayed by Robert Craighead in another 2012 film, Saving Lincoln, which tells President Lincoln's story through the eyes of Ward Hill Lamon, a former law partner of Lincoln who also served as his primary bodyguard during the American Civil War.
• Stanton is portrayed by Matt Besser in the "Chicago" episode of Drunk History, created by Derek Waters on Comedy Central.

See also

• American Civil War
• List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines
• The Lincoln Cabinet
• The court-martial of Fitz John Porter

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

References

• Bowers, Q.D., and Sundman, D.M. 2006, 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, Whitman Pub., Atlanta, GA, 134 p.
• Bissland, James. Blood, Tears, and Glory (Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 2007). Explains Stanton's key role in winning the Civil War.
• Day, Sandra Hudnall; Hall, Alan (2005). Steubenville. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738533998. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Flower, Frank Abial (1905). Edwin McMasters Stanton: the autocrat of rebellion, emancipation, and reconstruction. New York: Western W. Wilson.
• Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005) on Lincoln's cabinet.
• Harold M. Hyman, "Johnson, Stanton, and Grant: A Reconsideration of the Army's Role in the Events Leading to Impeachment", American Historical Review 66 (October 1960): 85–96, online in JSTOR.
• Hendrick, Burton J. Lincoln's War Cabinet (1946).
• Kunhardt, Dorothy Meserve, and Kunhardt Jr., Phillip B. Twenty Days. Castle Books, 1965. ISBN 1-55521-975-6
• Marvel, William. Lincoln's Autocrat: The Life of Edwin Stanton (University of North Carolina Press, 2015). xx, 611 pp., a standard scholarly biography.
• Meneely, A. Howard, "Stanton, Edwin McMasters", in Dictionary of American Biography, Volume 9 (1935)
• Pratt, Fletcher. Stanton: Lincoln's Secretary of War (1953).
• Schroeder-Lein, Glenna R.; Zuczek, Richard (2001). Andrew Johnson: A Biographical Companion. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1576070301. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861–1868 (1991)
• Skelton, William B. . "Stanton, Edwin McMasters"; American National Biography Online 2000.
• Stanton, Edwin (Edited by: Ben Ames Williams Jr.) Mr. Secretary (1940), partial autobiography.
• Thomas, Benjamin P., and Hyman, Harold M. Stanton: The Life and Times of Lincoln's Secretary of War (1962), a standard scholarly biography.
• William Hanchett The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies (1983); demolishes the allegation that Stanton was the center of the plot to assassinate Lincoln.

External links

• Biography from "Impeach Andrew Johnson".
• Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Edwin M. Stanton Biography.
• Mr. Lincoln's White House: Edwin M. Stanton Biography.
• Pictures of Fractional Currency featuring Edwin Stanton, provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
• Pictures of U.S. Treasury Notes featuring Edwin Stanton, provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
• Spartacus Educational: Edwin M. Stanton.
• Stanton biography in Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
• "Stanton, Edwin McMasters" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.