George H. Williams

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George Henry Williams (around 1875)

George Henry Williams (born March 23, 1823 in New Lebanon , Columbia County , New York , † April 4, 1910 in Portland , Oregon ) was an American lawyer and politician . He represented the state of Oregon in the US Senate and served as Attorney General in the cabinet of President Ulysses S. Grant .

Studies and professional career

Williams graduated with a law degree . After being admitted to the bar in 1844, he practiced as a lawyer in Fort Madison , Iowa . Three years later he became a judge in the Iowa First Judicial District. 1853 he was appointed as President ( Chief Justice ) of the Supreme Court ( Supreme Court ) of the Oregon Territory . During his tenure, which lasted until 1858, the case of “Holmes v. Ford ” , which involved the first release of a slave family after slavery was banned in Oregon.

Political career

Rise to Senator from Oregon

In the presidential election in 1852 he was a representative of the Democratic Party of the Electoral College . In 1857 he was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Oregon, which made the transfer of the previous territory into a state.

In 1865 he was elected US Senator for Oregon . In this capacity he represented the interests of the Republican Party in Washington from March 4, 1865 to March 3, 1871 . However, his candidacy for re-election was unsuccessful.

In 1871 he belonged to a commission to clarify the " Alabama question " based on the Washington Treaty . It concerned a damages case between the United Kingdom and the United States on the question of the due diligence of neutral states regarding the equipment of warships in their ports. Ultimately, the United Kingdom to pay 15.5 million was US $ in gold bound for damages equipped in England ships of the southern states in the northern states during the American Civil War had committed.

Attorney General under President Grant and Mayor of Portland

On December 14, 1871, US President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him as Attorney General in his cabinet , where he succeeded the resigned Amos T. Akerman . The 1873 nomination for Chief Justice of the United States after the death of Salmon P. Chase on May 7, he rejected a short time later after his rejection in the United States Senate became apparent. On April 25, 1875, he resigned from his position as Minister of Justice. He also declined the President's offer to go to Spain as envoy .

In 1876 he supported the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes in the run-up to the presidential election . He then retired from politics for over a quarter of a century and established himself as a lawyer in Portland, Oregon. On June 2, 1902, at the age of 79, he was elected Mayor of Portland . He held this office until June 5, 1905.

literature

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Commons : George H. Williams  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Williams, George H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, George Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH New Lebanon , New York
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1910
Place of death Portland , Oregon