Edward Livingston

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Edward Livingston Livingston's signature

Edward Livingston (born May 26, 1764 in Clermont , Columbia County , New York Province, † May 23, 1836 in Rhinebeck , New York ) was an American lawyer , politician, statesman and foreign minister .

Life

Edward Livingston was the youngest son of Robert Livingston and belonged to the well-known honorable Livingstons family. In 1781 he graduated from the College of New Jersey . From 1785 he practiced with his own legal practice in New York City . From 1795 to 1801 he was a member of the US House of Representatives as a representative of New York State, after which he was both mayor of New York City and at the same time federal attorney for the district of New York until 1803 . Because of a broken financial situation, he withdrew to Louisiana in 1804 and built a plantation here . He participated in the British-American War in part and was aide-de-camp of Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans . In 1824 he completed his penal code, which however burned and which he started again in 1826.

Later in his political career Livingston, who belonged to the Democratic Republican Party , was a member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana in 1820 , from 1823 to 1829 representative of Louisiana to the House of Representatives of the United States and US Senator from 1829 to 1831.

After the victory of Andrew Jackson in the United States presidential election, 1828 of him was as a faithful lieutenant ambassador to France offered. Despite much coveting the position, Livingston declined the offer after careful consideration. Since diplomats in Paris in particular were expected to spend a lot of time on representation and companies, which was offset by a comparatively low income, he simply lacked the financial means to take on this office.

Jackson's break with Vice President John C. Calhoun in the spring of 1831 led to a reshuffle of the entire cabinet . Martin Van Buren , who replaced Calhoun, proposed President Livingston as the new foreign minister. His qualifications were due less to a particularly strong experience in foreign affairs and more to the high standing that Livingston enjoyed in all political groups. Very satisfied with the senatorial service, Livingston was reluctant to give Jackson consent in a letter on April 20. Henry Clay , a bitter opponent of Jackson, unsuccessfully opposed Livingston's appointment in the Senate in January 1832, which had been made on May 24, 1831, and called for an investigation into the funds with which he had repaid his public debts. Livingston embittered these allegations and he briefly considered taking legal action against them.

As foreign minister in the Jackson cabinet , he could set little accents and was more of an administrative secretary, since the president did not trust him and largely took over foreign policy himself. In foreign affairs, his main focus was on legal issues. Like Jackson, his politics were characterized by a passionate nationalism. The most pressing problem of his tenure was the border dispute with the United Kingdom over the northeastern United States and British North America . An agreement in 1827 had appointed the Dutch King Wilhelm I as a mediator and submitted his report to him four years later. Jackson had agreed to the negotiation result despite bitter opposition from Maine and Massachusetts , but the Senate rejected it in July 1832 and urged the President to reopen negotiations with the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Livingston in Maine obtained a commitment from state officials to waive all territorial claims north of the Saint Francis and Saint John rivers, with appropriate territorial and financial compensation . However, when, in early 1833, the State Legislature decided that all international agreements were only binding if they were ratified by local town councils , the concession made by Livingston became obsolete. He did not give up and suggested that Great Britain use the source of the St. Croix River and the watershed between the Saint Lawrence River and the Atlantic as boundary markers. Since Maine did not support this initiative, this venture was also unsuccessful.

The negotiations between America and Europe, led by Livingston, were dominated by economic issues. During the coalition wars, American merchant ships were confiscated from some nations, which had put a considerable strain on mutual relations afterwards. Jackson therefore put clarification of this matter first. When the American ambassador to Paris , William Cabell Rives , reached an agreement with France in July 1831, which provided for mutual trade facilitation and a compensation payment of 4.6 million US dollars , 5 percent of which covered French claims in America, Livingston was concerned: On the one hand, he doubted the legality of this agreement, on the other hand, he feared that the resulting financial demands of Paris could become too great. However, Rives and Van Buren convinced Jackson that Livingston's concerns were unfounded. When, after the unanimous approval of the Senate, Finance Minister Louis McLane presented France with a first request for payment in February 1833, Paris refused to pay because the Chamber of Deputies had not yet approved the contract. The negotiations with the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were more successful, although Livingston had hardly any part in them.

Livingston exerted greater influence on foreign policy within the American continent . When the Republic of New Granada, under British pressure, denied the most-favored nation clause to trade with the United States in May 1832 , he protested vigorously in line with the Monroe Doctrine . He considered this influence of a European power in the western hemisphere to be detrimental to the interests of America less for political than for economic reasons. In 1831, the Argentine island commander Luis Vernet captured three American fishing and seal-catching ships in the Falkland Islands . Thereupon a United States Navy warship moved to the Falkland Islands and brought the settlers away there. An American delegate sent to Buenos Aires could not obtain any concessions from Argentina. Meanwhile, the British occupied the Falkland Islands and claimed it as their territory. Although this was a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, Livingston advised President Jackson not to protest. Presumably he did so because he considered the Falkland Islands to be of little importance. He rejected the proposal of the American ambassador to Mexico , Anthony Butler , to borrow US $ 5 million as a mortgage against Texas as a mortgage to Mexico, as it was unconstitutional. Livingston advised him to keep to the existing trade and border treaties.

Probably remembering that in 1829 he had been forced to decline the post of American ambassador to France for cost reasons, Livingston attempted to reform the diplomatic service on a large scale. It provided for a precise regulation of the consul's salaries and fees for their services, as well as the introduction of expense allowances for residence and domestic staff. In addition, the trading activities of diplomats should be subjected to restrictions. However, Congress remained inactive on the matter, so Livingston ended up being content with issuing a standard form instructing consuls on their rights and duties.

As early as October 1832, Jackson had decided to replace Livingston as foreign minister and to send him to France as ambassador. However, he waited for the presidential election and the start of the turbulent 23rd Congress before implementing the measure. Livingston resigned as Secretary of State on May 29, 1833. His successor in this office was Louis McLane . Livingston was appointed ambassador to France on the day of his resignation as foreign minister. He held this post until 1835.

After retiring from the civil service, he retired to the Montgomery Place manor house.

Livingston was married twice. He married his first wife, Liviary McEvers, on April 10, 1788. She died on March 13, 1801. In June 1805, he married the 19-year-old widow Madame Louise Moreau de Lassy or D'Avezac.

The city of Livingston in Guatemala was named in his honor. In the United States, counties in Illinois , Michigan, and Missouri and Livingston Parish in Louisiana bear his name.

Livingston was Richard Montgomery's brother-in-law . Edward Livingston's brother was the politician Robert R. Livingston .

literature

  • Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334.
  • William B. Hatcher: Edward Livingston, Jeffersonian Republican and Jacksonian Democrat. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge 1940, LCCN  40-034088 .

Web links

Commons : Edward Livingston  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Remarks

  1. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 329.
  2. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 329.
  3. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 329.
  4. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: pp. 329f., 332.
  5. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 330f.
  6. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 331.
  7. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 331.
  8. ^ Richard W. Fanning: Edward Livingston. In Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. Greenwood Publishing, Westport 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 328-334; here: p. 331f.
  9. ↑ Charles Curry Aiken, Joseph Nathan Kane: The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, Area, and Population Data, 1950-2010 . 6th edition. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2013, ISBN 978-0-8108-8762-6 , pp. 182f.
predecessor Office successor
Richard Varick Mayor of New York City
1801–1803 		DeWitt Clinton
Richard Harison Federal Attorney for the District of New York
1801–1803 		Nathan Sanford
William Cabell Rives United States Envoy to Paris
September 30, 1833–29. April 1835 		Lewis Cass
personal data
SURNAME Livingston, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer, politician, statesman and secretary of state
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1764
PLACE OF BIRTH Clermont , Province of New York
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1836
Place of death Rhinebeck , New York