Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-1869), American lawyer, was a member of both James Buchanan's and Abraham Lincoln's Cabinets.

Edwin M. Stanton was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on Dec. 19, 1814. He attended a private school and a Latin academy, but on his father's death in 1827 he was forced to accept a job in a local bookstore. After working there for 3 years he borrowed enough money from his mother's lawyer to enter Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. At the beginning of his second year, family finances became so strained that he had to return to his old employer.

However, Stanton wanted to study and did so in a law office in Steubenville. In 1835 he passed his bar examination. Later that year he became a partner in a law office in Cadiz, Ohio. His reputation as a capable lawyer was soon established, and he was now able to take care of his own...