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William O. Stoddard (1835 - 1925) was assistant secretary to Abraham Lincoln during his first term. He worked as editor of the Central Illinois Gazette. He first served as a clerk in the Interior Department. On July 15, 1861, he was appointed "Secretary to the President to sign land patents". Prepartion of a digest of newspaper articles was one of his original responsibilities; it was stopped because, according to Stoddard, "Mr. Lincoln never found time to spend an hour upon laborious condensations."

He personally made the first copy of the draft Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862.

After two bouts with typhoid, Stoddard left his White House post in July 1864. He took a break in July 1863, suffering from "Potomac River malaria" and went to New York. He was named federal marshal in Arkansas