C. Evan Stewart is the author of the new book William Henry Seward's Quest to Save the Nation During the Secession Winter (November 1860-April 1861). Seward (1801-1872) was Abraham Lincoln's secretary of state. Stewart's other books include Myron Taylor: The Man Nobody Knew. He is also an attorney and a visiting professor at Cornell University.
Q: What inspired you to write William Henry Seward’s Quest to Save the Nation During the Secession Winter?
A: Seward has been a hero of mine since I was an undergraduate at Cornell many years ago. Since then, I have comprehensively studied his life.
This particular story I thought was/is important to tell because “mainstream” historians have written of this era from Lincoln’s perspective and thus the “real” history of the Secession Winter—a critical period in our country’s past—has been little understood (or misunderstood).
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: I reviewed all the correspondence of the critical players of this period (Lincoln, Seward, Jefferson Davis, Stephen Douglass, Charles Sumner, Thurlow Weed, etc.), as well as ALL the works of every historian who has written on this period (a fact borne out by the endnotes).
Q: The author Edward L. Ayers said of the book, “Stewart offers a stimulating discussion of Seward’s attempt to avoid war--and then to win the war when it could not be avoided, reminding us of history's rich moral complexity.” What do you think of that description?
A: I was very pleased that Professor Ayers—one of our greatest Civil War historians extant—reviewed the book. While I like this quote, I like the one the followed it even more!
Q: What do you see as Seward’s legacy today?
A: Hopefully (if my book reaches a broad enough audience), Seward’s importance in (a) putting the nation over partisan politics at the most dangerous time in our history (with a plan that was working, until Lincoln changed his mind and sent ships to resupply Fort Sumter), (b) creating an architectural plan for our country’s expansion to the Pacific and thereafter to Asia (e.g., buying Alaska, Midway, the Guano Islands, etc.), and (c) helping to win the Civil War in so many ways (e.g., ensuring England and France did not recognize the Confederacy—if they had, the South would have won the war), will be understood and appreciated—for the first time.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am just finishing up a book on the four campaigns Lyndon Johnson ran in 1960—a story never told before; and I am just starting a book on George Patton—again, a story never told before: how he struggled during his entire career to achieve his military destiny while clashing with the bureaucracy of the U.S. Army (a collective biography of Patton-Eisenhower; Patton-Bradley; Patton-Marshall; Patton-Pershing, etc.).
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Lots more to share on Seward, but hopefully the foregoing is a good start.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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