William M. Evarts

William Maxwell Evarts ( born February 6, 1818 in Boston, Massachusetts, † February 28, 1901 in New York City ) was an American lawyer and statesman.

Early years and political beginnings

William Evarts attended the Boston Latin School and then to 1837 the Yale College, today's Yale University. He then studied at the Law Faculty of the Harvard University law. After his 1841 was admitted to the bar he began to take up this profession. From 1849 to 1853 he was United States District Attorney. Evarts was a member of the newly formed Republican Party. In 1861 he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. During 1867 and 1868 he was member of a commission to revise the constitution of the State of New York.

Minister of Justice and Minister of Foreign Affairs

In 1868 ( Attorney General ) William Evarts was appointed by President Andrew Johnson as Attorney General of the United States. This office he held until 1869. During the impeachment process against the president, he was the main advisor. In 1872 he represented the United States before an arbitration tribunal in Geneva. There, the action for damages against the United States England to the construction of the Confederate warship CSS Alabama was negotiated. The U.S. accused the British violation of neutrality ago during the Civil War, because the ship had been built in England. Due to the action, the damage done by the CSS Alabama damages of England should be paid. The trial ended with a compensation of the USA in the amount of 15.5 million dollars.

During the disputed presidential election of 1876 Evarts was legal representative of the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes. After he had enforced its election victory, Hayes appointed him as the new foreign minister in his cabinet. This post about it from 1877 to 1881. In 1881, William Evarts was also a delegate to an international monetary conference in Paris.

U.S. Senator and other CV

Between March 4, 1885, the March 3, 1891 William Evarts represented the state of New York as a senator in the U.S. Congress. He was chairman of the "Committee on the Library". He organized the collection for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and held in 1886 at the inauguration of the monument a speech. After his tenure in the Senate Evarts withdrew for health reasons from politics. He died in February 1901 in New York.

As a member of a politically active family Evarts had many prominent relatives. His grandfather Roger Sherman was 1789-1793 first deputy and then U.S. Senator from Connecticut. His cousin Roger Sherman Baldwin was 1847-1850 U.S. Senator for Connecticut and from 1844 to 1846 and Governor of that State. Even some of his descendants were politically and legally active at different levels.