After a short biography of Lincoln, how about a long biography of Seward?  Worry not – the page to which I’ve linked below is just a 5 minute NPR interview with the biographer, who gives some nice bullet-point answers to the host’s general questions.

Not only does he sort of come to respect Lincoln as a leader, but the two of them become close friends, much to the chagrin of some of Seward’s Cabinet colleagues. The Cabinet would be gathered for a meeting and who would show up but the president and Secretary Seward would walk through the door together sharing a joke, and the others would know that whatever they were about to discuss had more or less had been decided a few minutes earlier by Lincoln and Seward.

via How Lincoln’s Fiercest Rival Became His Close Ally : NPR.