Robert Charles Winthrop

Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-1894)

Robert Charles Winthrop (born May 12, 1809 in Boston , Massachusetts , † November 16, 1894 ibid) was an American politician and from 1847 to 1849 the 22nd  Speaker of the House of Representatives . He was also a Senator for the state of Massachusetts from 1850 to 1851.

Early years

Winthrop attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard University in 1828 . He then learned the legal profession under Daniel Webster and was admitted to the bar in 1831. From 1835 to 1840 he was in the House of Representatives of the State of Massachusetts, from 1838 to 1840 he was also the Speaker of the House.

politics

Robert Charles Winthrop based on a painting by Daniel Huntington , 1882

Winthrop was elected to replace the resigned MP Abbott Lawrence as MP for the Whigs in the 26th Congress, which he entered on November 9, 1840, and was confirmed in the election that followed. Before the end of his tenure, however, he resigned on May 25, 1842. His successor was Nathan Appleton , who resigned before the end of his term in office. In the subsequent re-election, Winthrop allowed himself to be re-elected and rejoined Congress only a few months after his resignation. He served this for four further terms, in the elections from the 28th to the 31st Congress he was re-elected, in the 30th Congress he was speaker of the House of Representatives (December 6, 1847 - March 4, 1849). In 1849 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . During the current term, he resigned on July 30, 1850 to accept the position of senator that had been offered to him, which had become vacant after his former instructor Daniel Webster had resigned from that position. He only served in the Senate from July 30, 1850 to February 1, 1851, as he was not re-elected. He was also unsuccessfully run for the election of the governor of Massachusetts in the same year and sat a year later in the Electoral College , the body of electors that meets after the presidential election to elect the president.

Late years

After leaving politics, he was involved in charitable causes until his death. The Winthrop University was named after him because he donated money, which led to the opening of school. He died on November 16, 1894 in his hometown of Boston and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

family

• His parents were Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760-1841) and Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple (1769-1825)
• He married his wife Elizabeth Cabot Blanchard (1809–1842) on March 12, 1832 and had three children with her.
• He is the great-great-grandfather of US Senator and Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2004 election , John Kerry .

Web links

• Robert Charles Winthrop in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)