William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State

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Michael Burlingame, The Patriot-Statesman; A fearless abolitionist and ardent expansionist, Seward served our greatest president—and our worst. Wall Street Journal, Sept 15, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 35400729428124.html
(book review on Walter Stahr, Seward; Lincoln's indispensable man. Simon & Schuster, 2012)

Quote: "Seward's great diplomatic achievement during the Civil War, was to keep Britain and France from intervening. Those nations were tempted to meddle but hesitated largely because Seward scared them off with threats to declare war if they did so.

Note:
(a) William H Seward
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward
(1801-1872; secretary of state 1861-1869; US senator from New York 1849-1861; governor of New York 1839-1842; section 2 United States Senator and Presidential Candidate: last two paragraphs)
(b) Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thi ... States_Constitution
(adopted in 1865; section 1 Text)
(c) presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan are 1853-1857 and 1857-1861, respectively.
The review observes Mr Seward "serv[ed] as a forceful secretary of state (one whom many historians rank as the greatest in American history along with John Quincy Adams)."

John Quincy Adams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams
(1767-1848; US president 1825-1829; secretary of state 1817-1825 (under Pres James Monroe))
(d) Mr Seward's memo argued, "Either the President must do it himself, and be all the while active in it, or devolve it on some member of his cabinet."

devolve (vt) "to pass on (as responsibility, rights, or powers) from one person or entity to another"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devolve  
(e) Radical Republican
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Republican
(f) For Hottentots, see Khoikhoi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoikhoi
(the native people of southwestern Africa; The European immigrants labeled them Hottentots, in imitation of the sound of the Khoekhoe language)
(g) The review observes, "He [Seward] improved relations with China, negotiating the Burlingame treaty of 1868, which allowed greater Chinese immigration and trade."
(i) Burlingame treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlingame_Treaty
(The treaty was reversed in 1882 by the Chinese Exclusion Act)
(ii) Anson Burlingame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Burlingame
(1820-1870; section 2 Minister to China)