Aaron V. Brown

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Aaron V. Brown

Aaron Venable Brown (born August 15, 1795 in Brunswick County , Virginia , †  March 8, 1859 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician who served in the cabinet of President James Buchanan as US Secretary of the Post . He was also the 13th governor of the state of Tennessee .

Early years and political advancement

Aaron Brown studied law at the University of North Carolina after graduating from regular school . In 1817 he was admitted to the bar. Together with his partner, the later US President James K. Polk , he had a law firm in Pulaski .

Brown was a member of Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party . He served in the Tennessee Senate from 1821 to 1825 and again from 1827 to 1829 . He was then a member of the House of Representatives of that state for a term before he was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1839 . In 1844 he supported the successful presidential election campaign of his former partner Polk.

Governor of Tennessee

A year later, Brown was elected governor of Tennessee. As a supporter of President Polk, he supported the war against Mexico . When he called for volunteers in Tennessee to raise the 2,600 men that state was expected to go to war, 30,000 men volunteered. During his tenure from 1845 to 1847, the railroad network in Tennessee was expanded. He made improvements to conditions in prisons. Even so, he lost the 1847 election to Whig candidate Neill S. Brown . This defeat was part of the national trend, a year later the Democrats also lost the presidential campaign. Despite the military successes in the war against Mexico, many Americans, including in Tennessee, were simply tired of the war.

Further career

After the end of his tenure, Brown remained politically active. In 1850 he was a delegate at the so-called Nashville Convention . Representatives from nine slave-holding states met to discuss the issue of extending slavery to the new territories ceded by Mexico. The assembly paved the way for the compromise of 1850 . Brown supported this decision. At the Democratic Party Convention in 1856, Brown received 29 votes as a candidate for the vice presidency. But that was not enough for the nomination, which went to John C. Breckinridge . President James Buchanan called Brown to his cabinet as Postmaster General in 1857 . He held this position until his death on March 8, 1859. He was succeeded by Joseph Holt .

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978 . Volume 4, Meckler Books, Westport 1978.
  • The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography . Volume 5, James T. White & Company, New York.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brown, Aaron V.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brown, Aaron Venable (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Brunswick County , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1859
Place of death Washington, DC