biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1800–79)
|
| biography:
| Lawyer and public official, born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, USA. After serving in the Massachusetts legislature and the US House of Representatives as a Whig (1835–41) and Democrat (1841–3), he was appointed commissioner to China. He became attorney general (1853–7), and spoke out on many issues beyond the law. Opposed to slavery and secession, when Lincoln won the election of 1860 he became a Republican, and served as a legal consultant to him and his cabinet. Under President Grant, he carried through several notable diplomatic-legal negotiations, and in 1873 Grant nominated him to be chief justice of the Supreme Court, but partisan attacks led Cushing to withdraw his name. He then served as US ambassador to Spain (1873–7). An accomplished orator and linguist, he was also extremely well read - Emerson called him the most eminent scholar of his day. |
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