Edwin McMasters Stanton

Stanton, Edwin McMasters (1814–69), U.S. politician, secretary of war during the Civil War (1862–68), and important ally of the Radical Republicans during Reconstruction. As U.S. attorney general in the last months of President James Buchanans cabinet, he stood against Southern secession. He resigned following President Andrew Johnson's narrow escape from impeachment (1868). Stanton was appointed to the Supreme Court but died prior to assuming the post.