William J. Duane

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Portrait of William John Duane

William John Duane (born May 9, 1780 in Clonmel , Ireland , † September 27, 1865 ) was an American politician and finance minister .

Family, studies and professional career

Duane emigrated with his father in 1796 from Ireland to the United States and helped this then until 1806 in the publication of the in Philadelphia published daily newspaper Aurora . In the meantime, he completed a law degree and was an influential lawyer in Philadelphia soon after being admitted to the bar in 1815.

Political career

He began his political career by being elected as a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly , to which he served several times in the years to come. In the course of his political career, he became one of the most powerful politicians in the state of the time.

On May 29, 1833, the President of the United States Andrew Jackson appointed him as Secretary of the Treasury in his cabinet.

Like his predecessor Louis McLane , who became Secretary of State , he refused to liquidate government balances at the Bank of the United States and then move them to state banks, fearing that short-term withdrawals of government balances would cause a panic Farmers and commoners. In addition, he was of the opinion that he would not be able to cancel the credit anyway without the express consent of Congress . Jackson backed up his opinion in this situation with a legal opinion from Attorney General Roger B. Taney .

Duane, who stuck to his opinion, was dismissed by Jackson on September 22, 1833, who appointed Taney Treasury Secretary the following day. After leaving the cabinet, he largely withdrew from political life.

Publications

In addition to his political activities, he wrote legal books such as

  • The Law of Nations Investigated. Philadelphia, 1809 and
  • Letters on Internal Improvements. 1811.

In 1838 he wrote the book Narrative and Correspondence Concerning the Removal of the Deposits, and Occurences Connected Therewith , in which he defended his opposition to the dissolution of the Bank of the United States in 1833.

Web links and background literature

Commons : William J. Duane  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Duane, William J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duane, William John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and Secretary of the Treasury
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH Clonmel , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1865