Simon Cameron

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Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799 – June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician who was four times elected senator from Pennsylvania, and whose involvement in politics spanned over half a century. He served as United States secretary of war under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. A native of Maytown, Pennsylvania, Cameron made a fortune in railways, canals, and banking. Initially a supporter of James Buchanan, whom he succeeded in the Senate when Buchanan became Secretary of State in 1845, Cameron broke with Buchanan and the Democratic Party by the 1850s. An opponent of slavery, Cameron briefly joined the Know Nothing Party before switching to the Republicans in 1856. He won election to another term in the Senate in 1857 and provided pivotal support to Lincoln at the 1860 Republican National Convention. Lincoln appointed Cameron as his first Secretary of War. Cameron's wartime tenure was marked by allegations of corruption and lax management, and...

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