Edwin Stanton was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1836, set up a law practice in Cadiz, Ohio, but moved to Pittsburg in 1847. In 1856 he moved to Washington, D.C., to set up a law practice for Supreme Court cases.

In 1859, he was the defense attorney in the trial of Daniel Sickles, accused of murdering his wife's lover, one Philip Barton Key II, the son of Francis Scott Key who wrote the "Star Spangled Banner." Philip was acquitted when Stanton invoked the first use of the insanity defense. Interestingly, Sickles went on to become a politician and a general in the Union Army. Hmmmm. An insane politician and general?

In 1860, President James Buchanan appointed Stanton as United States Attorney General, and President Lincoln appointed him Secretary of War in 1862. Stanton was an anti-secessionist and is credited with changing President Buchanan's view of tolerance to one of Constitutional illegality. However, he was also opposed to President Lincoln but accepted the appointment "to help save the country." Stanton continued as Secretary of War under President Johnson after Lincoln's assassination. Stanton and Johnson clashed over Civil War Reconstruction and President Johnson replaced Stanton in 1868 with General Ulysses S. Grant, although Grant's appointedment was not approved by the Senate. Johnson's removal of Stanton resulted in his impeachment, which he survived by merely one vote (and people say one vote doesn't matter!).

Upon Lincoln's assassination, Stanton changed his opinion, saying, ""There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." Stanton's determination to find the assassins has resulted in history accusing him of witness tampering and other activities, including some forms of torture, that skewed the outcome of the trials of the eight people accused of conspiring in the assassination.

President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Stanton to the United States Supreme Court in 1869, but Stanton died four days after the Senate confirmed him. Unfortunately, he had not taken the oath of office of a Supreme Court Justice, so he is not carried on the official roll of Supreme Court Justices.

Other interesting facts about Edwin M. Stanton:

1. The 1977 movie, "The Lincoln Conspiracy," was inspired by a book written in 1930 by Otto Eisenschiml that accused Stanton of arranging the assassination of Lincoln.
2. Places named after Stanton: Stanton Park in Washington, D.C.; Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, Florida; and Stanton County, Nebraska

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Sources:

1. "Blood, Tears, and Glory," by James Bissland
2. "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Goodwin
3. "Johnson, Stanton, and Grant: A Reconsideration of the Army's Role in the Events Leading to Impeachment," by Harold Hyman
4. "Stanton: The Life and Times of Lincoln's Secretary of War," by Benjamin Thomas and Harold Hyman
5. "The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies," by William Hanchett
6. Wikipedia
7. Arago: People, Postage, and the Post
8. 1847USA: Knowledge is Power

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