Question of the Week: What advice would you give Seward?
If you could go back in time and give US Secretary of State William H. Seward one piece of advice or factual information, what would it be and when would you want to tell him?
If you could go back in time and give US Secretary of State William H. Seward one piece of advice or factual information, what would it be and when would you want to tell him?
Buy Alaska
Purchase Greenland at yard sale prices while you’re on a roll.
That terretory is bound to offer future benefits, perhaps even 150 years or so in the future.
Hire a couple of big beefy armed bodyguards to start around the start of April 1865.
Before 1860, and if I had been a friend of Seward’s I might would have told Seward to moderate his views on slavery, feign distance from Thurlow Weed, and salve some open political wounds. He might then could have defeated Lincoln at the Chicago convention. If Seward had won the nomination over Lincoln, the Civil War might not would have happened at all or would have gone down very differently politically. Disunion scared the bejesus out of Seward.
I don’t think I could tell or suggest anything to him. His record and legacy speak for themselves. His efforts in helping keep European powers out of the American Civil War deserve acclaim. That might make for an interesting movie if done right.
Lyle Smith’s perspective is outstanding.
As for my own, advise President Lincoln not to listen to the warmongers in Congress, the media, his Cabinet or the military – and not be pushed into sparking war, i.e. forcing South Carolina to fire on Fort Sumter so they could have the war they wanted – and instead, urge calm and peaceful negotiations. Prevail upon the three most adept men in the South – Robert Lee, Jefferson Davis, and John C. Breckinridge – to be part of those talks. The issues could have been resolved, war avoided, and gradual emancipation fully achieved by 1875. 725,000 lives spared – and the country spared having Ulysses Grant become President. But, this is rational, logical, 21st Century thinking. 165 years ago, the urge to go to war to settle any dispute or insult prevailed, so look what we got.
At the beginning of the Lincoln administration I would told him, hey, you’re not the President! Provide recommendations, but don’t do work on your own or speak for the government without the head of the government’s agreement.
If I could only speak to Seward immediately after Lincoln was elected, I would have told him the same.
I would suggest to Seward, to invite the Confederate leadership, Davis, Stephens, Yancey, and the other “firewater’s” to a conference. Listen to their demands and arguments. Then shoot each one in the face.
I mean, it couldn’t hurt, and it might help.
In his role as secretary of state, I would suggest that he negotiate with Brazil, that after the war was over, he would sell the Confederate leadership(President, VP, any senators, officers over the rank of colonel) and their families into slavery. Keep that option open for future klansmen.
After all (insert your defense of the institution of slavery here)