Union Secretary of War during the Civil War

He was at Lincoln's bedside when he died and spoke the famous words, "Now he belongs to the ages!"

(1814-1869) Born in Steubenville, Ohio, he studied law at Kenyon College, and after graduation practiced law, and held various minor public offices. Stanton was one of the attorneys who defended Congressman Daniel E. Sickles, in his famous 1859 murder trial in Washington, D.C. Sickles murdered U.S. Attorney, Philip Barton Key, who was the son of Francis Scott Key, writer of The Star-Spangled Banner. Sickles shot and killed Key in broad daylight, in Lafayette Square, right across the street from the White House. Congressman Sickles was acquitted after using "temporary insanity" as a legal defense for the first time in United States history, with Edwin M. Stanton delivering the closing arguments at the trial. President James Buchanan's appointed Stanton his Attorney General in 1860. He deplored slavery, but upheld the slaveholders' constitutional rights. In 1862, he succeeded Simon Cameron as President Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War, and proved to be an able and honorable cabinet member. Stanton was one of the select few who were at President Lincoln's deathbed, at the Petersen House, across the street from Ford's Theater, in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died in a first-floor bedroom at 7:22 a.m., on April 15, 1865. In the moments after the president took his last breath, Mr. Stanton uttered these now famous words, "Now he belongs to the ages." He further eulogized Lincoln with this fitting observation, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." Stanton remained at his position as Secretary of War under President Andrew Johnson, but shortly later he became a bitter opponent of the new president's lenient reconstruction policies towards the former Confederate States. Asked to resign, he refused, and was suspended by President Johnson. Secretary Stanton however was restored to his post by the U.S. Senate who informed the president that he did not have the power to remove Stanton. President Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton ultimately led to his impeachment by the Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives. After the impeachment, Stanton resigned, and returned to his law practice. In 1869, he was nominated Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Ulysses S. Grant, but Stanton died on Christmas Eve, 1869, only four days after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate, and remains the only Supreme Court nominee to accept this position on the court, but died without serving.

Signature with Title: 2 3/4 x 1 1/4, in ink, Edwin M. Stanton, with printed title, Secretary of War, below his signature. Outlined in red ink. Very fine. Comes with a 4 x 5, vintage photograph of Stanton showing him in a seated pose during the period he served as Secretary of War.


WBTS Trivia: Edwin M. Stanton was only the second American other than a United States President to appear on a U.S. postage stamp, with the first one being Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, who appeared on a stamp in 1847. The Stanton stamp was issued on March 6, 1871.

Daniel E. Sickles, became one of the Civil War's most prominent political generals, and earned the Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle of Gettysburg where he had his leg amputated.