William Seward CDV, seated view, of the Secretary of State under Lincoln. His strong stances and provocative words brought him hatred in the South. He was one of the targets of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln, and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis Powell. His contemporary Carl Schurz described Seward as "one of those spirits who sometimes will go ahead of public opinion instead of tamely following its footprints." Back mark Gardner, Washington, D.C.