Who Negotiated the Alaska Purchase and Midway Islands Acquisition?

Two separate 1867 negotiations expanded U.S. Pacific territory:

Alaska Purchase

Negotiator: William H. Seward, U.S. Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson.

Seward negotiated with Russian Minister Eduard de Stoeckl, finalizing the $7.2 million deal (approx. 2¢/acre) on March 30, 1867. Critics mocked it as "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox"—until gold and oil proved its value.

Midway Atoll

Negotiator: Captain William Reynolds, U.S. Navy, commanding the USS Lackawanna.

In August 1867, Reynolds formally took possession of the uninhabited atoll for the United States under the Guano Islands Act. It became a critical coaling station and later a pivotal WWII naval air base (Battle of Midway, 1942).

Both acquisitions reflected post-Civil War American expansionism in the Pacific.