biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1793–1869)
|
| biography:
| US public official and cabinet member, born in Belmont, Virginia, USA. A Missouri state legislator, US congressman (Whig, Missouri, 1827–9) and moderate voice in antebellum politics, he attracted national notice with a speech (1847), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination (1860). As Lincoln's attorney general (1861–4) he was the first cabinet officer from W of the Mississippi, but resigned after his influence eroded because of his opposition to government wartime practices. Back in Missouri he opposed the post-war policies of the Radical Republicans. |
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