James B. Eustis

James B. Eustis

James Biddle Eustis (born August 27, 1834 in New Orleans , Louisiana , † September 9, 1899 in Newport , Rhode Island ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Louisiana in the US Senate .

After studying classical antiquity , James Eustis attended Harvard Law School , graduated there in 1854, was admitted to the bar two years later and began practicing in his native New Orleans. During the Civil War he served as a Judge Advocate in the Confederate Army ; he then returned to his office.

Before the start of the Reconstruction , Eustis was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was on a commission sent to Washington to speak to US President Andrew Johnson about Louisiana's concerns. In 1872 he sat again in the House of Representatives of his state, from 1874 then in the Senate of Louisiana .

On January 12, 1876, Eustis then entered the US Senate in Washington for the Democrats. He was elected as a compromise candidate by the state legislature after the seat remained vacant for four years. The reason was Parliament's refusal to elect one of two rival candidates, William L. McMillen and PBS Pinchback . Eustis' term of office ended after a failed re-election on March 3, 1879. He then concentrated on his work as a law professor at the University of Louisiana , which he had started in 1877 and exercised until 1884.

Eustis was elected a second time to the US Senate and this time completed a full term from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1891. He did not stand for re-election. Instead, he initially stayed in Washington and worked as a lawyer before being appointed US ambassador to France in 1893 . In 1897 he returned to the United States and settled in New York .

James Eustis died in Newport in 1897. His older brother George served in the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana from 1855 to 1859 . The diplomat Charles E. Bohlen was his grandson.

Web links

• James B. Eustis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• James B. Eustis in the database of Find a Grave (English)