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Lewis Cass
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|
|
In office
October 29, 1813 – August 6, 1831 |
| Preceded by |
William Hull |
| Succeeded by |
George Bryan Porter |
|
In office
August 1, 1831 – October 5, 1836 |
| President |
Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by |
John Henry Eaton |
| Succeeded by |
Joel Roberts Poinsett |
|
In office
October 4, 1836 – November 12, 1842 |
| President |
Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler |
| Preceded by |
Edward Livingston |
| Succeeded by |
William R. King |
|
In office
March 4, 1845 – May 29, 1848
January 20, 1849 – March 3, 1857 |
| Preceded by |
Augustus S. Porter (1845)
Thomas Fitzgerald (1849) |
| Succeeded by |
Thomas Fitzgerald (1848)
Zachariah Chandler (1857) |
|
In office
December 4, 1854 – December 4, 1854 |
| Vice President |
vacant |
| Preceded by |
David R. Atchison |
| Succeeded by |
Jesse D. Bright |
|
In office
March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 |
| President |
James Buchanan |
| Preceded by |
William L. Marcy |
| Succeeded by |
Jeremiah S. Black |
|
| Born |
October 9, 1782(1782-10-09)
Exeter, New Hampshire U.S. |
| Died |
June 17, 1866 (aged 83)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic |
| Spouse |
Eliza Spencer Cass |
| Profession |
Politician, Lawyer |
| Signature |
 |
| Military service |
| Service/branch |
United States Army |
| Years of service |
1813-1814 |
| Rank |
Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars |
War of 1812 |
Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, and a U.S. Senator representing Michigan. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States in 1848.[1]
[edit] Early life
Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he attended Phillips Exeter Academy. His parents were Major Jonathan Cass and Molly Gilman. In 1800 he moved with his family to Marietta, Ohio. On May 26, 1806, he married the former Elizabeth Spencer.[2]
[edit] Territorial governor
During the War of 1812, Cass served as a brigadier general and participated in the Battle of the Thames. As a reward for his service, he was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President James Madison on October 29, 1813, and served until 1831. He was frequently absent, and several territorial secretaries often served as acting governor in his place.
In 1817, he was one of two commissioners (along with Duncan McArthur) who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed September 29 of that year with several Native American tribes.[2]
In 1820, he led an expedition to the northern part of the territory, in the northern Great Lakes region in present-day northern Minnesota, in order to map the region and discover the source of the Mississippi River. The source of the river had been unknown until then, resulting in an undefined border between the United States and British North America. The expedition erroneously identified Cass Lake as the source of the river. The source of the river was correctly identified in 1832 by Henry Schoolcraft, who had been Cass's expedition geologist, as nearby Lake Itasca.
[edit] Later political career
On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post of Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, a position he would hold until 1836. Cass was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian removal policy of the Jackson administration. Next, Cass was appointed ambassador to France, which he remained until 1842.
Cass represented Michigan in the United States Senate from 1845 to 1848. He served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the 30th Congress. In 1848, he resigned from the Senate to run for President. William Orlando Butler was his running mate.[3] Cass was a leading supporter of the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which held that the people who lived in a territory should decide whether or not to permit slavery there.[4] His nomination caused a split in the Democratic party, leading many antislavery Democrats to join the Free Soil Party. He also supported the annexation of Texas.
After losing the election to Zachary Taylor, he returned to the Senate, serving from 1849 to 1857. He was the first non-incumbent Democratic presidential candidate to lose an election.
From 1857 to 1860, Cass served as Secretary of State under President James Buchanan.[2] He was sympathetic to American filibusterers and was instrumental in having Commodore Hiram Paulding removed from command for his landing of Marines in Nicaragua and compelling the removal of William Walker to the United States.[5] Cass resigned on December 13, 1860, because of Buchanan's failure to protect federal interests in the South and failure to mobilize the federal military, actions that might have averted the threatened secession of Southern states.[6]
Cass died in 1866 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.
His great-great grandson Cass Ballenger was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina.
[edit] Commemoration
[edit] See also
- ^ Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866
- ^ a b c Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T. (eds.) (2004). Encyclopedia of the War of 1812, pp. 83-84. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591143624.
- ^ Kleber, John E. (ed.) (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 146. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813117720, ISBN 9780813117720.
- ^ Klunder, Willard Carl (1996). Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation, pp. 266-67. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873385365, ISBN 9780873385367.
- ^ Collier, Ellen C. (1993) "Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 - 1993" CRS Issue Brief Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington DC
- ^ Cass's resignation statement, quoted in McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham (1899) Lewis Cass Houghton, Mifflin, Boston, pp. 345-346, OCLC 4377268, (standard library edition, first edition was published in 1891)
[edit] References
| Political offices |
Preceded by
William Hull |
Territorial Governor of Michigan
1813 – 1831 |
Succeeded by
George Bryan Porter |
Preceded by
John Henry Eaton |
United States Secretary of War
August 1, 1831 – October 5, 1836 |
Succeeded by
Joel Roberts Poinsett |
Preceded by
David Rice Atchison |
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
December 4, 1854 |
Succeeded by
Jesse D. Bright |
Preceded by
William L. Marcy |
United States Secretary of State
March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 |
Succeeded by
Jeremiah S. Black |
| Ohio House of Representatives |
| New district |
Representative from Washington, Gallia, Muskingum, and Athens Counties
1806–1807
Served alongside: Levi Barber, William H. Puthoff |
Succeeded by
John P. R. Bureau
John Matthews
James Palmer |
| United States Senate |
Preceded by
Augustus S. Porter |
Senator from Michigan (Class 1)
March 4, 1845 – May 29, 1848
Served alongside: William Woodbridge and Alpheus Felch |
Succeeded by
Thomas Fitzgerald |
Preceded by
Thomas Fitzgerald |
Senator from Michigan (Class 1)
January 20, 1849 – March 3, 1857
Served alongside: Alpheus Felch and Charles E. Stuart |
Succeeded by
Zachariah Chandler |
| Party political offices |
Preceded by
James K. Polk |
Democratic Party presidential candidate
1848 |
Succeeded by
Franklin Pierce |
| Diplomatic posts |
Preceded by
Edward Livingston |
United States Minister to France
October 4, 1836 – November 12, 1842 |
Succeeded by
William R. King |
