Romulus Mitchell Saunders

Romulus Mitchell Saunders

Romulus Mitchell Saunders (born March 3, 1791 in Milton , Caswell County , North Carolina , †  April 21, 1867 in Raleigh , North Carolina) was an American politician . Between 1821 and 1845 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives twice .

Career

Romulus Saunders attended the public schools of his home country and then studied between 1809 and 1811 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1812, he began to work in Milton in this profession. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Republican Party . He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1815, 1817, and 1819 . At times he was its speaker . From 1819 to 1864, Saunders was a curator at the University of North Carolina. From 1823 he lived in Raleigh.

In the congressional election of 1820 , Saunders was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the ninth constituency of North Carolina , where he succeeded Thomas Settle on March 4, 1821 . After two re-elections, he was able to complete three legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1827 . During the 1820s he joined the movement around the future President Andrew Jackson . He later became a member of the Democratic Party founded by him . His three terms in office in the 1820s were marked by discussions between supporters and opponents of Jackson.

In 1826 Saunders declined to run again. From 1828 to 1831 he was Attorney General of North Carolina; between 1835 and 1840 he served as a judge in the Superior Court . In 1840 he ran unsuccessfully for governor of North Carolina. In the elections of 1840 Saunders was re-elected to Congress in the eighth district of his state, where he replaced William Montgomery on March 4, 1841 . After a re-election in the fifth district as the successor to James Iver McKay , he was able to complete two more terms in Congress until March 3, 1845. These were determined by the discussions about a possible annexation of the Republic of Texas , which had been independent of Mexico since 1836 . Between 1843 and 1845, Romulus Saunders was chairman of the legal committee. In 1844 he was not re-elected.

In 1842 and 1852 Saunders ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate . Between 1846 and 1849 he succeeded Washington Irving as US ambassador to Spain . Then he sat again in the parliament of his state from 1850 to 1852. He was also on a commission to review North Carolina law. He died in Raleigh on April 21, 1867.

Web links

• Romulus Mitchell Saunders in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Romulus Mitchell Saunders in the database of Find a Grave (English)