Ethan A. Hitchcock (politician)

Ethan A. Hitchcock

Ethan Allen Hitchcock (born September 19, 1835 in Mobile , Alabama , † April 9, 1909 in Washington, DC ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ) who was a member of the US cabinet from 1899 to 1907 as Secretary of the Interior .

After Hitchcock graduated from a private military academy in Connecticut in 1855 , he moved to Hong Kong , where he ran the local branch of a St. Louis company . By the time he left this post in 1872, he had made a name for himself in business circles. He subsequently served as president of several railway and mining companies as well as factories.

He only took over his first public office at an advanced age. In 1897 US President William McKinley appointed him envoy to Russia . The background was the intention to intensify trade relations between the two states in this way. The following year, Hitchcock was promoted to official ambassador .

On December 21, 1898, the President then appointed Ethan Hitchcock as Home Secretary to his cabinet ; however, it took two months before he returned from Russia and could actually take up his post. As a result, he made a special contribution to nature conservation and his commitment to the interests of the indigenous people . He also tightened the prosecution of land fraud.

The fact that he came into conflict with Republican congressmen in the process clouded his relationship with his own party. In addition, he did not belong to the Tennis cabinet , the inner circle of ministers around McKinley's successor as President, Theodore Roosevelt . So he finally resigned from his post on March 4, 1907. Ethan Hitchcock died in Washington two years later.

Web links

• Ethan A. Hitchcock in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)
• Ethan A. Hitchcock in the database of Find a Grave (English)