George S. Boutwell

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George S. Boutwell (around 1875) signature

George Sewall Boutwell (born January 28, 1818 in Brookline , Massachusetts , † February 27, 1905 in Groton , Massachusetts) was an American politician . He was Massachusetts Governor from 1851 to 1853 , Congressman from 1863 to 1869, Secretary of the Treasury from 1869 to 1873, and US Senator from 1873 to 1877 . He was also one of the founders of the Anti-Imperialist League ( American Anti-Imperialist League ) and its president from 1898 to 1905.

Studies and professional career

The son of a farmer started working as a clerk in a shop in Groton in 1835. He later became the shop owner's partner and also worked as a teacher and postmaster for a few years. He then completed a law degree in 1836 .

Between 1849 and 1851 he held the office of State Commissioner for Banks in Massachusetts. From 1855 to 1861 he was Secretary of the Board of Education of Massachusetts .

Political career

Massachusetts Governor

Part of the State House , the governor's residence

He began his political career as a supporter of Martin Van Buren in 1842 when he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives . There he represented the interests of the Democratic Party first until 1842 and then again from 1847 to 1850 . During this time he applied several times in the years 1844, 1846 and 1848 unsuccessful in elections to the House of Representatives and in 1849 and 1850 for governor of Massachusetts.

In 1850, with the support of the Free Soil Party, he was finally elected governor of Massachusetts. At the end of his two-year term from January 11, 1851 to January 14, 1853, he decided against running again. In the following two years he changed his party affiliation at the same time because of his view on slavery . In 1854 he was one of the founders of the Republican Party . In 1857 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Congressman

On July 17, 1862, he was appointed first head of the Internal Revenue Commissioner . However, he only held this office until March 4, 1863.

US Senate in the impeachment case against Andrew Johnson

He was then elected a member of the US House of Representatives. There he represented the interests of the seventh and then the ninth congressional electoral district of Massachusetts until March 12, 1869 . During his term in parliament, he was also a member of the Overseer of Harvard College . In particular, he was but one of the prosecutors of the House during the unsuccessful impeachment proceedings in the Senate against President Andrew Johnson appointed in February and March. 1868

Treasury Secretary under President Grant

Portrait of GS Boutwell in the Treasury

On March 12, 1869, the newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him Treasury Secretary in his cabinet .

During his tenure, he began in particular with the reorganization of the ministry and a reduction in national debt . He also introduced auditing of accounts in customs offices and incorporated the United States Mint into the Treasury. On March 23, 1869 there was a so-called Black Friday caused by gold speculators , which he countered with a distribution of state gold on the financial market.

On March 16, 1873 he resigned from his office. He was succeeded as Treasury Secretary by his current deputy ( Assistant Secretary of the Treasury ) William Adams Richardson .

U.S. Senator and Future Offices

On March 17, 1873, he was elected as the successor to Henry Wilson to the US Senator . As such, he held the second Senate seat in Congress until March 3, 1877.

After leaving the Senate, in 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes gave him the task of preparing the second edition of the US Revised Statute , a collection of the then applicable US laws. Two years later, President Hayes appointed him his advisor on a commission that settled claims for damages between France and the United States.

In September 1884, he turned down President Chester A. Arthur's offer to resume the post of Treasury Secretary after the death of Charles J. Folger .

Instead, he opened a law firm in Washington, DC and took up a practice as a lawyer , where he increasingly dealt with international law . As such, he was consul in Haiti in 1885 and legal advisor to the governments of the then still independent Hawaii in 1886 and of Chile from 1892 to 1893 .

From Puerto Rico to the Philippines

On June 15, 1898 was one of the founders of the Anti-Imperialist League , which also elected him its first president. He held this office until his death. As President of the Anti-Imperialist League, he spoke out shortly afterwards, in particular against the occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War in June 1898.

In 1900, after 46 years, he changed his party preference and now supported the Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan , who was defeated by the Republican incumbent William McKinley in the presidential election on November 6, 1900 .

Publications and speeches

Boutwell also published several books on the United States ' school system , tax law, and political economy . His work "The Constitution of the United States at the End of the First Century" ( Littleton , 1895) has long been considered the standard work on the constitution of the United States . He also made several important speeches as President of the Anti-Imperialist League. His other works include:

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Boutwell, George S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boutwell, George Sewall (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Brookline , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1905
Place of death Groton , Massachusetts