Today, William Corcoran is known mostly for his art gallery museum across from the White House, but he is a very important character from American history.
He played a significant role in the transformation of the United States financial and banking systems and held a huge influence on everything that went on in Washington, D.C.. Some regard him as America's first lobbyist and peddler of political influence.
Corcoran influenced and befriended almost every U.S. president from Andrew Jackson to Rutherford B. Hayes.
He included among his friends quite a diverse group, including Edward Everett, Robert E. Lee and John Slidell. He maintained close business and social relationships with financiers and bankers ranging from Elisha and George Riggs, George Peabody and Junius Morgan.
One day I might look up the Lincoln-Corcoran relationship during the Civil War as this man, though retired, still continued to wield a lot of clout.
--Old Secesh
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