What are you reading now?

[Gencor]

I agree with Gene. I believe the lingering trauma of the assassination attempt, combined with the deaths of his wife and his beloved Fanny kind of took the spark out of Seward.

I need to hunt down the source of a statement I once read that he made where he said he should have died with Lincoln, because his work had basically been done at that point.

This is it, LTF. After the death of Lincoln and the death of his wife, Seward lost touch with the moving times. There was rapid political changes taking place, positioning in politics, changing issues brought about by reconstruction and a new set of players in the field, all moving very quickly. The most seasoned players were running to stay in step, just to keep up. Positions and players, all over the country, we're changing and for Seward and others like him, it was becoming complicated. I always got the impression, from what I have read about this complex man, that after President Lincoln died and he lost his wife, he had fallen behind and then just couldn't find a place to relate a return. Especially, not in the same kind of position of power. I also found that Seward was not the only political casualty after the death of President Lincoln. I still believe that in this moment in our American history, each prominent player was where they were destined to be for what they had to do and Seward certainly had his part to play. What each of them had to do ended the night they killed Lincoln.