Edward Bates (September 4, 1793 – March 25, 1869) was a U.S. lawyer and statesman. He served as the first attorney general of Missouri after it was admitted as a state. He served as the United States Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1864, and was notable as the first cabinet member to be appointed from west of the Mississippi River. He was the younger brother of Frederick Bates, second governor of Missouri, and James Woodson Bates, who became an attorney and politician in Arkansas after practicing for a time in Missouri.