Simon Cameron
26th United States Secretary of War
In office March 5, 1861 – January 14, 1862
President	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Joseph Holt
Succeeded by	Edwin M. Stanton
United States Senator from Pennsylvania
In office March 13, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	James Buchanan
Succeeded by	James Cooper
In office March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861
Preceded by	Richard Brodhead
Succeeded by	David Wilmot
In office March 4, 1867 – March 12, 1877
Preceded by	Edgar Cowan
Succeeded by	J. Donald Cameron
Personal details
Born	(1799-03-08)March 8, 1799 Maytown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 26, 1889(1889-06-26) (aged 90) Maytown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic, Know Nothing, Republican
Spouse	Margaret Brua Cameron
Profession	Politician, Journalist, Editor
Signature

Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799 – June 26, 1889) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War.

Cameron made his fortune in railways, canals and banking, and founded the Bank of Middletown.^[1] He then turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania, succeeding James Buchanan. Originally a Democrat, he failed to secure a nomination for senator from the Know-Nothing party, and joined the People's Party, the Pennsylvania branch of what became the Republican Party. He won the Senate seat in 1857, and became one of the candidates for the Republican nomination in the presidential election of 1860.

Cameron gave his support to Abraham Lincoln, and became his Secretary of War. He served only a year before resigning amidst allegations of disorganization and corruption during the early phases of the American Civil War. Cameron then became the minister to Russia, but was overseas for less than a year.

Beginning in 1867, he again served in the Senate; he was succeeded by his son, J. Donald Cameron in 1877, and only resigned upon confirmation that his son would succeed him. After leaving the Senate, Cameron lived in retirement, but still participated in politics and tended to his many business interests. He died in 1889 and was buried in Harrisburg.

Cameron's chief legacy was a powerful Republican party machine that continued to dominate Pennsylvania politics long after his death.

Simon Cameron was born in Maytown, Pennsylvania,^[1] to Charles Cameron and Martha Pfoutz. He was orphaned at nine and later apprenticed to a printer, Andrew Kennedy, editor of the Northumberland Gazette before entering the field of journalism. He was editor of the Bucks County Messenger in 1821. A year later, he moved to Washington, D.C., and studied political movements while working for the printing firm of Gales and Seaton. He married Margaret Brua and returned to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where he purchased and ran the Republican in 1824.

Cameron served as state printer of Pennsylvania from 1825 until 1827, and was state adjutant general in 1826. He constructed several rail lines and merged them into the Northern Central Railway. He founded the Bank of Middletown in 1832 and engaged in other business enterprises. In 1838, he was appointed as commissioner to settle claims of the Winnebago Indians.

Cameron began his political career as a Democrat, supporting the campaigns of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.^[2] He was elected to replace James Buchanan in the United States Senate in 1845, serving until 1849.^[1] A persistent opponent of slavery, Cameron switched to the Know Nothing Party, before joining the Republican Party in 1856.^[3] In 1857, Cameron was again elected to the United States Senate.^[1]

Cameron was nominated for President, but gave his support to Abraham Lincoln at the 1860 Republican National Convention. Lincoln, as part of a political bargain, named Cameron Secretary of War. Because of allegations of corruption and lax management, he was forced to resign early in 1862. His corruption was so notorious that a Pennsylvania congressman, Thaddeus Stevens, when discussing Cameron's honesty with Lincoln, told Lincoln that "I don't think that he would steal a red hot stove."^[1] When Cameron demanded Stevens retract this statement, Stevens told Lincoln "I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back." Cameron was succeeded as Secretary of War by Edwin Stanton, who had been serving as a legal advisor to the War Secretary. Cameron then served as Minister to Russia.^[1]

Cameron's brother, James Cameron, colonel of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was killed in action at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.

Cameron made a political comeback after the Civil War, building a powerful state party machine that would dominate Pennsylvania politics for the next seventy years.^[3] In 1866, Cameron was again elected to the Senate. Cameron convinced his close friend Ulysses S. Grant to appoint his son, James Donald Cameron, as Secretary of War in 1876.^[3] Later that year, Cameron helped Rutherford B. Hayes win the Republican nomination in 1876.^[3] Cameron resigned from the Senate in 1877 after assuring that his son would be the successor to his seat. Though Cameron had intended for his son to succeed him as head of the state machine, Matthew Quay ultimately succeeded Cameron as the party boss.^[4]

Cameron retired to his farm at Donegal Springs Cameron Estate near Maytown, Pennsylvania where he died on June 26, 1889.^[1] He is buried in the Harrisburg Cemetery in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.^[1] Cameron County, Pennsylvania and Cameron Parish, Louisiana are named in his honor.

• Simon Cameron House and Bank, Middletown, Pennsylvania
• Simon Cameron House, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Simon Cameron School, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

• Bradley, Erwin Stanley (1966). Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Secretary of War: A Political Biography. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. LCCN 65020756.
• Crippen, Lee Forbes (1942). Simon Cameron, Ante-Bellum Years. Oxford, Mississippi: Mississippi Valley Press. ISBN 0306703629.
• Kahan, Paul (2016). Amiable Scoundrel: Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Scandalous Secretary of War. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-61234-814-8.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simon Cameron.

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Simon Cameron.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Simon Cameron in "The New Student's Reference Work"

• Simon Cameron biography in Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army a publication of the United States Army Center of Military History
• Spartacus Educational: Simon Cameron
• Mathew Brady Studio: Simon Cameron
• biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
• Biography at Lincoln Institute
• Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Simon Cameron
• Simon Cameron at Find a Grave
• The John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion

v t e United States senators from Pennsylvania
Class 1	W. Maclay Gallatin Ross S. Maclay Leib Roberts Findlay Barnard Dallas McKean Sturgeon Brodhead S. Cameron Wilmot Buckalew J. Scott Wallace Mitchell Quay Knox Oliver Knox Crow Reed Guffey Martin H. Scott Heinz Wofford Santorum Casey
Class 3	Morris Bingham Muhlenberg Logan Gregg Lacock Lowrie Marks Wilkins Buchanan S. Cameron Cooper Bigler Cowan S. Cameron J. Cameron Penrose Pepper Vare† Grundy Davis Myers Duff Clark Schweiker Specter Toomey Fetterman
Notes	† Never officially seated

v t e United States Secretaries of War and the Army
Department of War (1789–1947)	Secretaries of War B. Lincoln Knox Pickering McHenry Dexter Dearborn Eustis Armstrong Monroe W. Crawford Calhoun Barbour P. Porter Eaton Cass Poinsett Bell Spencer J. Porter Wilkins Marcy G. Crawford Conrad J. Davis Floyd Holt S. Cameron Stanton Schofield Rawlins Belknap A. Taft J. Cameron McCrary Ramsey R. Lincoln Endicott Proctor Elkins Lamont Alger Root W. Taft Wright Dickinson Stimson Garrison Baker Weeks D. Davis Good Hurley Dern Woodring Stimson Patterson Royall Assistant Secretaries of War Scott Watson Tucker Wolcott Dana Eckert Grant Doe Meiklejohn Sanger Oliver Breckinridge Ingraham Crowell Williams Wainwright D. Davis MacNider Robbins Hurley Payne Woodring L. Johnson Patterson McCloy Petersen Under Secretaries of War Patterson Royall Draper
Department of the Army (1947–present)	Secretaries of the Army Royall Gray Pace Stevens Brucker Stahr Vance Ailes Resor Froehlke Callaway Hoffmann C. Alexander Marsh Stone West Caldera White Harvey Geren McHugh Fanning Esper McCarthy Wormuth Under Secretaries of the Army Draper Gray Voorhees A. Alexander Bendetsen E. Johnson Slezak Finucane Milton Ailes Ignatius Resor McGiffert Beal BeLieu Staudt Augustine LaBerge Ambrose Stone Shannon Reeder Walker Rostker Dahlberg Brownlee Geren Ford Westphal Carson Murphy McCarthy McPherson Camarillo

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Agriculture (1829–1857; 1863–1881)	Marks Seymour Brown Page P. Smith Mouton Linn Upham Sturgeon Soulé Allen (abolished 1857–1863) Sherman Cameron Morton Frelinghuysen Paddock Johnston
Agriculture and Forestry (1884–1977)	Miller Palmer Paddock George Proctor Hansbrough Dolliver Warren Burnham Gore Gronna Norris McNary E. Smith Thomas Capper Thomas Ellender Aiken Ellender Talmadge
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (1977–)	Talmadge Helms Leahy Lugar Harkin Lugar Harkin Cochran Chambliss Harkin Lincoln Stabenow Roberts Stabenow

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Public Buildings (1838–1857)	Fulton Kerr Dayton Cameron Bright Hunter Whitcomb James Bayard
Public Buildings and Grounds (1857–1947)	Bright Foot Brown Fessenden Morrill Dawes Jones Rollins Mahone Stanford Vest Quay Fairbanks Warren Scott Sutherland Swanson Reed Fernald Lenroot Keyes Connally Maloney Andrews
Public Works (1947–1977)	Revercomb Chávez Martin Chávez McNamara Randolph
Environment and Public Works (1977–present)	Randolph Stafford Burdick Moynihan Baucus Chafee Smith Reid Smith Jeffords Inhofe Boxer Inhofe Barrasso Carper

v t e United States Ambassadors to Russia
Russian Empire (1780–1917)	Dana Adams Pinkney Campbell Middleton Randolph Buchanan Wilkins J. Clay Dallas Cambreleng Todd Ingersoll Bagby Brown Seymour Pickens Appleton C. Clay Cameron C. Clay Curtin Orr Jewell Boker Stoughton Foster Hunt Taft Lothrop Tree C. Smith White Breckinridge Hitchcock Tower McCormick Meyer Riddle Rockhill Guild Marye Francis
Soviet Union (1933–1991)	Bullitt Davies Steinhardt Standley Harriman W. Smith Kirk Kennan Bohlen Thompson Kohler Thompson Beam Dubs Stoessel Toon Watson Hartman Matlock Strauss
Russian Federation (1991–present)	Strauss Pickering Collins Vershbow Burns Beyrle McFaul Tefft Huntsman Sullivan Tracy

v t e Cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
Secretary of State	William H. Seward (1861–1865)
Secretary of the Treasury	Salmon P. Chase (1861–1864) William P. Fessenden (1864–1865) Hugh McCulloch (1865)
Secretary of War	Simon Cameron (1861–1862) Edwin Stanton (1862–1865)
Attorney General	Edward Bates (1861–1864) James Speed (1864–1865)
Postmaster General	Montgomery Blair (1861–1864) William Dennison Jr. (1864–1865)
Secretary of the Navy	Gideon Welles (1861–1865)
Secretary of the Interior	Caleb Blood Smith (1861–1862) John Palmer Usher (1863–1865)
Related	Team of Rivals (2005 book)

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National	Germany Israel United States Netherlands
People	US Congress
Other	NARA SNAC