One of the leading political figures of 19th century America, William H. Seward, was born in rural New York on May 16th, 1801. He rose to political prominence when he became governor of New York in 1838. His first political involvement was behind Martin Van Buren. He later joined the Anti-Masonic Party and then the Whig Party and was a founding member of the Republican Party. Seward ran for the Republican nomination for the 1860 presidential election. He lost the nomination to Abraham Lincoln and served as a secretary of state in Lincoln's cabinet. Seward survived an assassination attempt in 1865 and died in 1872.
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