Levi Woodbury

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Levi Woodbury signature

Levi Woodbury (born December 22, 1789 in Francestown , Hillsborough County , New Hampshire Colony , †  September 4, 1851 in Portsmouth , New Hampshire) was an American lawyer and politician , Governor of New Hampshire , Secretary of the Navy , Treasury Secretary and Supreme Justice Court of the United States .

Studies, career and family

He first completed a general education course at Dartmouth College , which he finished in 1809. He then studied law at Litchfield Law School . After being admitted to the bar, he opened a law firm in New Hampshire in 1812.

In 1816 he became a judge at the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. He held this office until 1823.

He was the father-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln's post office secretary , Montgomery Blair , and the great-great-grandfather of the film actor Montgomery Clift .

Political career

New Hampshire offices and United States Senator

Woodbury began his political career in 1823 as a member of the Democratic Republican Party with the election to governor of New Hampshire , which he held until 1824. In 1825 he was spokesman for the state's House of Representatives .

In 1825 he became the first Senator of the United States . As such, he represented the state of New Hampshire in Congress until 1831 . During this time, he became a following of Andrew Jackson. He was then elected to the New Hampshire Senate in 1831 , but renounced his seat.

From 1841 to 1845 he was finally again representative of New Hampshire in the Senate , this time as a member of the Democratic Party . Most recently, he was chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance for ten days, and thus holder of the shortest term of office of a committee chairman.

Minister under Presidents Jackson and Van Buren

On May 23, 1831, President Andrew Jackson appointed him Secretary of the Navy to his cabinet. He held this office until June 30, 1834.

Portrait of Levi Woodbury in the Treasury

He was then appointed by Jackson on July 1, 1834 to succeed Roger B. Taney as Treasury Secretary. He then held this office from March 4, 1837 in Martin Van Buren's cabinet . During his tenure, the charter of the Second Bank of the United States expired in 1836 through a presidential veto by Andrew Jackson. Woodbury, like the president, favored an independent central banking system and coins over paper money . The economic crisis of 1837 was ultimately caused in particular by his politics. After this crisis, he recognized the need for a safer state bank than the usual commercial banks. Therefore, he was among the supporters of the law for an independent financial system, which was passed in 1840 by Congress. This law was largely abolished by Treasury Secretary Walter Forward , but it later formed the basis for the establishment of an independent financial system.

US Supreme Court judge

During the presidential election of 1844 , he supported the Democratic candidate James K. Polk . After his resignation as Senator, he was appointed Associate Judge at the Supreme Court of the United States by the now President Polk in 1845 .

Woodbury was next to Salmon P. Chase the only personality who belonged to both the legislature , the executive and the judiciary and was also governor. In his honor, were among other Woodbury County in Iowa , the city of Woodbury , Minnesota and several ships of the United States Navy named.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Woodbury, Levi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1789
PLACE OF BIRTH Francestown , New Hampshire
DATE OF DEATH September 4, 1851
Place of death Portsmouth , New Hampshire