If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.

Fish often voted with the Free Soil faction and was strongly against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. In 1866 U. In May 1856 Senator Charles Sumner was viciously attacked by Preston Brooks in the Senate Chamber.

During his 8 year tenure Fish had to contend with Cuban belligerency the settlement of the Alabama claims Canadian border disputes and the Virginius Incident. In terms of the slavery issue Fish was a moderate; having disapproved of the Kansas Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery. Secretary of State in 1869.