President James Buchanan nominated Edwin M. Stanton for Attorney-General to replace Jeremiah Black, who had moved on to become Secretary of State after Lewis Cass had resigned. Stanton's confirmation further strengthened the view in Buchanan's changing cabinet that a state did not have the right under the Constitution to secede from the Union. Though a Democrat, Stanton later served as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War and became a Republican. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
"The Crisis of the Union," New York Times, December 20, 1860.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Lawmaking/Litigating
