Louis McLane – Wikipedia
Louis McLane ( – ) is an American lawyer and politician, from Delaware. Veteran of the War of 1812, member of the Democratic Party, he was secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State under the chairmanship of Andrew Jackson, and US ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Born in Smyrna, Delaware, his father Allen McLane is a veteran of the American Revolution and tax collector of the Wilmington port, a position he keeps despite his affiliation to the federalist party and the accession to power of Thomas Jefferson. Relatively easy thanks to the seizure of smuggling goods, he transmits his fortune to his son Louis.
Louis studied law in Newark College (which became the University of Delaware) and was admitted to the bar in 1807. He worked in Wilmington and married Catherine Mary Milligan in 1812, of which he has 13 children, including Robert who became governor of Maryland.
During the War of 1812, he joined the Wilmington artillery company, created to defend the city, and left it at the end of the war as a lieutenant, without having participated in any battle.
After the war, and as the federalist party weakens, divided between the supporters of Andrew Jackson and those of John Quincy Adams, he was elected to the House of Representatives under the Federalist label, by opposing Thomas Clayton who will become his main political opponent in Delaware. He was elected for six consecutive mandates, from 1817 to 1827. President of the powerful committee Ways and Means , only his affiliation to the federalist party prevents him from becoming Speaker of the House .
Close to Martin Van Buren and William H. Crawford, he supported the latter in the 1824 presidential election, then approached Andrew Jackson after defeating her and the withdrawal of Crawford.
He was elected to the Senate from 1827 to 1829, before resigning. Supporting Andrew Jackson in Delaware during the 1828 presidential election, he found himself politically isolated in Delaware, without possible political future. Not part of the first cabinet, he resigned himself to accepting the position of ambassador to the United Kingdom, proposed by his friend Martin Van Buren, who became Secretary of State.
Having become ambassador to the United Kingdom, he is responsible for informing the British that disputes or disputes under the previous administration of John Quincy Adams would not be under that of Andrew Jackson. His main objective was to open trade between the United States and the British West Indies, which he will accomplish with the support of Lord Aberdeen, British Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Two years later, he finally gained a position in Jackson’s administration. On the occasion of a change of cabinet, he was appointed, on the proposal of Martin Van Buren, secretary of the Treasury, a position he held between 1831 and 1833.
He is notably responsible for the controversial status of the Second Bank of the United States . In conflict with the president on this subject, but he does not wish to separate from McLane or perform a large-scale reshuffle, he replaces him and appoints him secretary of state.
Appointed without vote of the Senate ( recess appointment ) In 1833, he reorganized the State Department and created new service. He also managed a dispute with France, which had accepted in 1832 to reimburse the United States from the loss of several ships during the Napoleonic wars but failed to bring together the necessary funds. He opposed the French head on, in agreement with Jackson, but Martin Van Buren, who became vice-president and who preferred negotiation, intervened directly and convinced Jackson to leave the French more time. Furious with a direct intervention by his former mentor in his perimeter of responsibility, he resigned in 1834 and broke any link with Van Buren.
Although having inherited his father’s fortune, he focuses and manages to develop very profitable affairs. First president of the canal connecting Pennsylvania to New York, he then accepted the presidency of the Baltimore railway company.
He does not give up any political ambition, and close to James K. Polk, who became president, he agreed to become ambassador in Great Britain in 1845. He was responsible for resolving the litigation on the border of Oregon. Failing to access larger responsibilities, he returned to the private sector in 1846.
Owner of a plantation in Maryland, he moved to Baltimore and participated in the Maryland Constitutional Convention in 1850.
He died in Baltimore in 1857, and was buried there.
Bibliography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
- (in) Henry C. Conrad , History of the State of Delaware, 3 vols. , Lancaster, Pennsylvanie, Wickersham Company,
- (in) Roger A. Martin , Delawareans in Congress , Middletown, Delaware, , first re ed. (ISBN 978-0-924117-26-8 )
- (in) John A. Munroe , Louis McLane : Federalist and Jacksonian , New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University, (ISBN 978-0-8135-0757-6 )
- (in) John Thomas Sharp , History of Delaware 1609-1888 , Philadelphia, L. J. Richards & Co,
- (in) Reginald C. Stuart , Prologue to Manifest Destiny : Anglo-American Relations in the 1840s. , Canadian Journal of History,
external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]
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