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
Marcy was
born in Southbridge, Massachusetts
. He graduated from Brown University
in 1808, 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).
State politics
William L.
He was the leading member of the
Albany
Regency, a group of politicians who controlled State politics
between 1821 and 1838. He was
Adjutant-General of the
New York State Militia from 1821 to
1823,
New York State
Comptroller from 1823 to 1829, and an associate justice of the
New York Supreme Court from
1829 to 1831.
In
1831, he was
elected as a
Jacksonian Democrat
a
U.S. Senator from New York, and served
from March 4, 1831, to January 1, 1833, when he resigned upon
taking office as Governor. He sat 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
Whig 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-compromise-on-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
in Essex County, at 1629 meters the highest peak in
New York, and the Town of
Marcy
in Oneida County
are both named after him.
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