Elihu Benjamin Washburne | |
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25th United States Secretary of State | |
In office March 5, 1869 – March 16, 1869 |
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President | Ulysses S. Grant |
Preceded by | William H. Seward |
Succeeded by | Hamilton Fish |
Personal details | |
Born | September 23, 1816 Livermore, Maine, U.S. |
Died | October 23, 1887 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
(aged 71)
Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery (Galena, Illinois) |
Political party | Whig, Republican |
Spouse(s) | Adele Gratiot |
Alma mater | Harvard Law School |
Profession | Politician |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Elihu Benjamin Washburne (September 23, 1816, Livermore, Maine – October 23, 1887, Chicago, Illinois) was one of seven brothers who played a prominent role in the early formation of the United States Republican Party. He later served as United States Secretary of State in 1869.
Washburne, a resident of Galena, Illinois, represented northwestern Illinois in the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1869. While in Congress, he was also a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee.[1]
He was known for his courage, and met President-elect Abraham Lincoln upon his arrival in Washington, D.C. on February 23, 1861.[2] An assassination attempt was feared, and other Republican Party leaders were afraid to take on this duty. Washburne and his brothers had hidden the whereabouts of President-elect Lincoln by personally cutting telegraph wires in key locations.
Originally a Whig, Washburne was an early member of the Republicans and a leader of the Radical Republicans. He was among the original proponents of legal racial equality. As a congressman, he served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction which drafted the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. After the Civil War, Washburne advocated that large plantations be divided up to provide compensatory property for freed slaves.
Washburne served as President Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of State, replacing William H. Seward, for twelve days in March 1869; it remains the shortest term of any Secretary of State. He then became minister -- head of the U.S. diplomatic mission -- to France, where he was influential in negotiating the armistice for the Franco-Prussian War.
Washburne retired from government in 1876, although he was mentioned as a presidential candidate at the Republican conventions in 1880 and 1884. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, and served as president of the Chicago Historical Society from 1884 to 1887.
Three of Washburne's brothers (Cadwallader C. Washburn, William D. Washburn, and Israel Washburn, Jr.) also became politicians. His son, Hempstead Washburne, was mayor of Chicago from 1891 to 1893.
Washburne Street at 1230 south in Chicago is named in honor of Elihu Washburne.
United States House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by William H. Bissell |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st congressional district 1853 - 1863 |
Succeeded by Isaac N. Arnold |
Preceded by Owen Lovejoy |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 3rd congressional district 1863 - 1869 |
Succeeded by Horatio C. Burchard |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by William H. Seward |
United States Secretary of State Served under: Ulysses S. Grant 1869 |
Succeeded by Hamilton Fish |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Preceded by John A. Dix |
U.S. Minister to France 1869 – 1877 |
Succeeded by Edward F. Noyes |
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