Shortly after the inauguration, Senate leadership announced that Sumner would head the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The powerful post was an excellent consolation prize. He was put in charge of the committee that approved all treaties and performed oversight over Secretary Seward and all foreign ministers, including Adams. “Sumner’s influence is very potential—more than every body’s else put together,” a Bay State lawmaker observed. With this post, he could wield real power for the first time in his political career.
