biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1755–1827)
|
| biography:
| Politician and diplomat, born in Scarboro, Maine (then part of Massachusetts), USA. A lawyer, he represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress (1784–7) and the Constitutional Convention (1787), where he played an influential role in arguing for a strong central government. Having moved to New York City, he became a US senator (Federalist, 1789–96), continuing his eloquent advocacy of Federalist positions. He resigned to serve as ambassador to Great Britain (1796–1803), then returned to run unsuccessfully for the vice-presidency (1804, 1808). He returned to the Senate (Federalist, NY, 1813–25) and was the last Federalist to run for the presidency (1816). In the Senate, he continued his lifelong opposition to the spread of slavery, resisted the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and even supported the emancipation of the slaves. Retiring from the Senate, he went back to Great Britain in 1825 as the US ambassador, but illness forced him to come home (1826), where he soon died. |
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