The National cyclopædia of American biography : being the history of the United States as illustrated in the lives of the founders, builders, and defenders of the republic, and of the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the thought of the present time, edited by distinguished biographers, selected from each state, revised and approved by the most eminent historians, scholars, and statesmen of the day . adethat department the object of frequently aggressivecriticism. During his tliree terms in congress, easily became the leader of his party on thefloor of the house. In
The National cyclopædia of American biography : being the history of the United States as illustrated in the lives of the founders, builders, and defenders of the republic, and of the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the thought of the present time, edited by distinguished biographers, selected from each state, revised and approved by the most eminent historians, scholars, and statesmen of the day . adethat department the object of frequently aggressivecriticism. During his tliree terms in congress, easily became the leader of his party on thefloor of the house. In the great debate on the treatywith England, Mr. Gallatin is said to have risen tothe. highest rank of statesmanship. Jeflferson beingelected president, the formation of the first republi-can cabinet was his first duty, and in that Mr. Gallatinbecame secretary of the treasui-y. It was unfortu-nate that during the few days that Mr. Gallatin hadbeen United States senator he had offended Hamilton,at that time secretary of the treasury, by a call forinformation as to the condition of that department;and again, as a member of congress in 1796, he hadquestioned Hamiltons policy. Yet Hamilton hadleft the treasury department as a legacy to theFederalists, whose stronghold It was considered, andthe senate, which had the confirming power, wasstill controlled by a Federalist majority. In order OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 11. to avoid collision, Mr. Gallatins appointment wasnot sent to the senate during the session, but on May14th he entered the cabinet, the idea being that hewould thus at least hold the office until the meetingof congress in December. As a matter of fact hedid hold the office until 1813, and his conduct of itranks among the finest illustrations of financialability known. During his incumbency, the publicdebt, which in 1802 was more than $86,000,000, wasreduced to less than $46,000,000. The war of 1812,which then occurred, brought it up to nearly fiftyper cent, more than it wa
Size: 1204px × 2075px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauth, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcu31924020334755
