biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1793–1871)
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| biography:
| US senator and diplomat, born in New York City, New York, USA, the brother of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. A wealthy New Orleans lawyer and moderate Democrat, he was the political boss of Louisiana and the power behind the Buchanan administration as a US senator (1853–61). His capture with James Mason by Union forces (Nov 1861) en route to a Confederate diplomatic mission to Europe on the Trent sparked an international crisis. Released on 30 December, he went to France but never did succeed in obtaining French support for the Confederacy. He stayed in Paris until 1871, then retired to England where he died. |
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