Langdon Cheves

Langdon Cheves

Langdon Cheves (born September 17, 1776 in Rocky River , South Carolina , †  June 25, 1857 in Columbia , South Carolina) was an American politician and the ninth speaker of the House of Representatives . He was also President of the Second Bank of the United States .

Life

Cheves was born in what is now Abbeville County , South Carolina. His father, Alexander Cheves, was an immigrant from Scotland , and his mother, Mary Langdon, was from Virginia . He went to Charleston to earn a living at the age of ten and ran a large trading firm at the age of 16. Contrary to the advice of his friends, who thought he was a born trader, he began to study law at the age of 18. He was admitted to the bar in 1797 and quickly became an important lawyer . His annual income exceeded $ 20,000 by 1808, and he was considered a wealthy man at the time. Cheves married his wife Miss Mary Elizabeth Dulles in 1806.

politics

He assumed the post of Attorney General of South Carolina in 1808 . In 1810 he was elected to the US House of Representatives along with William Lowndes and John C. Calhoun and distinguished himself there very quickly. His speech at the Dealers' Association in 1811 was a particular example of his extraordinary rhetorical skills. The writer Washington Irving , who was also present, said that it was the first time he had an impression of how the great poets of the ancient Greeks and Romans must have spoken. Cheves was an avid supporter of the British-American War of 1812.

House of Representatives

On January 19, 1814, Cheves, who belonged to the Democratic Republican Party , succeeded Henry Clay as Speaker of the House of Representatives, since Clay was sent to Ghent as plenipotentiary . In the election he triumphed over Felix Grundy . On December 23, 1814, after the death of President Pro Tempore Elbridge Gerry , he was a direct successor to the presidency for two days , until two days later John Gaillard was elected President pro tempore . After peace was made with Great Britain in 1815, he refused re-election and returned to Charleston to return to work as a lawyer. His successor in the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives was his predecessor Clay, who had since returned. The following year he became a judge on the Superior Court of South Carolina.

National Bank

The National Bank was re-established in 1816 , but within three years it was ruined again due to mismanagement. Cheves was then elected President of the bank in 1819 and was able to reorganize the institute within three years. He resigned in 1822 and was succeeded by Nicholas Biddle in office. Since 1821 he was a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Last years

After spending some time in Philadelphia and then in Lancaster ( Pennsylvania had lived), he returned in 1829 back to South Carolina and lived for the next 28 years of retirement at his estate in Columbia, where he died on 25 June. 1857 In the last years of his life he wrote a few essays and reviews.

Web links

• Langdon Cheves in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Member History: Langdon Cheves. American Philosophical Society, accessed June 18, 2018 .