William L. Marcy

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=William Learned Marcy


order=21st
title=United States Secretary of State
term_start=March 7, 1853
term_end=March 6, 1857
president=Franklin Pierce
predecessor=Edward Everett
successor=Lewis Cass
order2=20th
title2=United States Secretary of War
term_start2=March 6, 1845
term_end2=March 4, 1849
president2=James K. Polk
predecessor2=William Wilkins
successor2=George Walker Crawford
order3=11th
office3=Governor of New York
term_start3=January 1, 1833
term_end3=December 31, 1838
lieutenant3=John Tracy
predecessor3=Enos T. Throop
successor3=William H. Seward
birth_date=birth date|1786|12|12|mf=y
birth_place=Southbridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
death_date=death date and age|1857|07|04|1786|12|12
death_place=Ballston Spa, New York, U.S.
party=Democratic-Republican, Democratic
spouse=Dolly Newell
profession=Politician, Lawyer, Judge

William Learned Marcy (December 12, 1786 - July 4, 1857) was an American statesman, who served as U.S. Senator and Governor of New York, and as the U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of State.

Early life

Macy was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brown University, taught school in Newport, Rhode Island, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1811, and commenced practice in Troy, New York. Marcy served in the War of 1812. Afterwards he was recorder of Troy for several years, but as he sided with the Anti-Clinton faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, known as the Bucktails, he was removed from office in 1818 by his political opponents. He was the editor of the "Troy Budget." On April 28, 1824, he married Cornelia Knower (1801-1889, daughter of Benjamin Knower), and their children were Edmund Marcy (b. ca. 1833) and Cornelia Marcy (1834-1888).

tate politics

He was the leading member of the Albany Regency, a group of politicians who controlled the state politics between 1821 and 1838. He was adjutant-general of the New York militia from 1821 to 1823, New York State Comptroller from 1823 to 1829, an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1829 to 1831, and was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat to the United States Senate, serving from 1831 to 1833, sitting on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in the 22nd Congress. He was Governor of New York for three terms, from 1833 until 1838. In 1838, he was defeated by the Whig candidate William H. Seward, which led to a radical change in state politics and ended the Regency. He was a member of the Mexican Claims Commission from 1839 to 1842. Later he was recognized as one of the leaders of the Hunkers, the conservative, office-seeking, and pro-slavery faction of the Democratic Party in New York.

Federal office

Marcy served as United States Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President James K. Polk from 1845 until 1849, at which time he resumed the practice of law. After 1849, Marcy led the "Soft" faction of the Hunkers that supported reconciliation with the Barnburners, and in this role sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1852, but was unsuccessful, in part due to "Hard" opposition led by Daniel S. Dickinson.

Marcy returned to public life in 1853 to serve as United States Secretary of State under President Franklin Pierce. According to the 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica", "His circular of the 1st of June 1853 to American diplomatic agents abroad, recommending that, whenever practicable, they should appear in the simple dress of an American citizen, created much discussion in Europe; in 1867 his recommendation was enacted into a law of Congress." He also resolved the Koszta Affair, and negotiated the Gadsden Purchase.

He died at Ballston Spa, New York, and was buried at the Rural Cemetery at Albany, New York.

Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York, and the Town of Marcy in Oneida County, are named after him.

ources

*1911
*CongBio|M000127
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mara-margolis.html] Political Graveyard
* [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/sw-sa/Marcy.htm Army biography]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~knower/benjstem.htm Knower genealogy, at rootsweb]