Edwin McMasters Stanton (19 December 1814 - 24 December 1869), born in Steubenville, Ohio, was an American political figure, prominent in the American Civil War and in the Reconstruction era.
After graduating from Kenyon College in 1833, he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1835. He was appointed as United States Attorney General by James Buchanan. After Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, he lost his position as Attorney General, but agreed to work as a legal adviser to Simon Cameron, the Secretary of War. After Cameron resigned in 1862, Stanton gained the position, which he held until 1868.