 | BIOGRAPHY
Elihu Benjamin Washburne
Secretary of State,
Term of Appointment:
03/05/1869 to
03/16/1869
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- Born in Livermore, Maine, September 23, 1816;
- Attended the common schools;
- Held an editorial position on the Augusta Kennebec Journal;
- Attended Harvard Law School in 1839 and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1840;
- Moved to Galena, Indiana and practiced law;
- Delegate to the Whig National Conventions at Baltimore in 1844 and 1852;
- Married Adele Gratiot in 1845;
- Representative from Illinois 1853-1869;
- Secretary of State in President Grant's Cabinet from March 5, 1869 until March 16, 1869, a period of only 12 days;
- Served as Minister to France 1869-1877 and was the only official representative of a foreign government to remain in Paris during the siege of 1870-1871 and the days of the Commune;
- On his return to the United States, settled in Chicago, Illinois, and engaged in historical and literary pursuits;
- Unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1880;
- President of the Chicago Historical Society, 1884-1887;
- Died in Chicago October 22, 1887.
Released on July 15, 2003
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