William Henry Seward

Seward, William Henry (1801–72), U.S. politician famousfor his purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. A prominent antislavery senator, he was appointed secretary of state by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. He did much to keep Britain out of the Civil War. Seward survived an assassination attempt by an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth, and served as President Andrew Johnson's secretary of state.