Secretary of State

Abraham Lincoln nominates William Seward to be Secretary of State - March 5th, 1861

Letter From Abraham Lincoln Nominating William Seward as Secretary of State

The one thing I have against the National Archives is that is takes up so much of my time … I get completely engrossed in the images they post online. Here’s a great one, the letter...
Japanese embassy posing for photo with naval officers at Washington's navy yard (Library of Congress)

Arrival of First Japanese Embassy at the Navy Yard (1860)

In January 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a delegation to the United States with the primary objective of ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (aka, the Harris Treaty). Commodore Matthew Perry (not Chandler) had opened Japan (forcefully)...
Address to the American People

President Garfield’s Assassin: Charles Guiteau’s Time in Washington

I posed a question to readers on Twitter whether a bit about Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, would be of interest and a couple of folks chimed in. So, I think this will be a good one...
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