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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889 to Robert G. White

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05891.11 Author/Creator: Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: January 30, 1860 Pagination: 1 p. : Height: 20.5 cm, Width: 16.5 cm Order a Copy

Discusses the upcoming Republican Presidential Convention in Chicago, at which he is a delegate. Worries that the plan to have the delegates vote by district, and not as a coalition, will greatly weaken his power and reduce his support among the delegates from his home state of Pennsylvania. Marked "Confidential." Cameron served as Secretary of War under Lincoln from 1861-1862. He also served a number of terms as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania (1845-1849; 1857-1861; 1867-1877). Cameron remained a power broker in national and Pennsylvania politics throughout his life. White, a district court judge in Pennsylvania, was a friend and political ally.

Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889
White, Robert Gray, 1807-1875

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