Republican Party

Today in 1876, the Atlanta newspaper, The Constitution, printed a letter written by Minister Washburne to Mr. John L. Winston of Lynchburg, Virginia on its front page. Minister Washburne was Elihu Benjamin Washburne, United States Minister to France. He was acquainted with General Grant during the Civil War, and when Grant became president, Washburne was appointed Secretary of State. However, Washburne resigned a little over one week later on a plea of ill health and accepted, instead, the position of Minister to France.