Lewis Cass
| Lewis Cass | |
|---|---|
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| 22nd United States Secretary of State | |
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In office March 6, 1857 – December 14, 1860 |
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| President | James Buchanan |
| Preceded by | William Marcy |
| Succeeded by | Jeremiah Black |
| President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate | |
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In office December 4, 1854 – December 5, 1854 |
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| Preceded by | David Atchison |
| Succeeded by | Jesse Bright |
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United States Senator from Michigan |
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In office March 4, 1849 – March 4, 1857 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| Succeeded by | Zachariah Chandler |
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In office March 4, 1845 – May 29, 1848 |
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| Preceded by | Augustus Porter |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Fitzgerald |
| United States Ambassador to France | |
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In office October 4, 1836 – November 12, 1842 |
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| Appointed by | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | Edward Livingston |
| Succeeded by | William King |
| 14th United States Secretary of War | |
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In office August 1, 1831 – October 4, 1836 |
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| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John Eaton |
| Succeeded by | Joel Poinsett |
| 2nd Territorial Governor of Michigan | |
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In office October 13, 1813 – August 1, 1831 (Military Governor from October 13 to October 29) |
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| Appointed by | James Madison |
| Preceded by | William Hull |
| Succeeded by | George Porter |
| Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Washington, Gallia, Muskingum and Athens counties | |
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In office 1806–1807 |
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| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | John Bureau John Matthews James Palmer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 9, 1782 Exeter, New Hampshire, United States |
| Died | June 17, 1866 (aged 83) Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth "Eliza" Spencer Cass |
| Profession | Military officer |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1812–1814 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | War of 1812 |
Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman: he was longtime governor of the Michigan Territory (1813–1831), Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, and Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. During his long political career, Cass served as an American ambassador to France, and as a U.S. Senator representing Michigan. A Mason from his years as a young man in Ohio, Cass was co-founder of the Grand Lodge of Michigan and its first Masonic Grand Master.
Cass was nationally known in the late period as a leading spokesman for the controversial Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty. It proposed allowing voters in the United States territories to determine whether to allow slavery in each jurisdiction rather than having Congress determine this. In 1848 Cass ran as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party but lost to Zachary Taylor.
Lewis Cass was born in 1782 in Exeter, New Hampshire, just after the end of the American Revolutionary War. He attended the private Phillips Exeter Academy. His parents were Major Jonathan Cass, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Molly Gilman. In 1800 the family moved to Marietta, Ohio, part of a wave of westward migration after the end of the war and defeat of Native Americans in the Northwest Indian War. Cass became an attorney, practicing in Zanesville, Ohio. On May 26, 1806, Cass married Elizabeth Spencer. That same year, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. The following year, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Cass as the U.S. Marshal for Ohio.
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Wikipedia