| Robert John Walker |
|
|
In office
March 8, 1845 – March 5, 1849 |
| President |
James K. Polk |
| Preceded by |
George M. Bibb |
| Succeeded by |
William M. Meredith |
|
In office
March 4, 1835 – March 5, 1845 |
| Preceded by |
George Poindexter |
| Succeeded by |
Joseph W. Chalmers |
|
| Born |
July 23, 1801(1801-07-23)
Northumberland, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died |
November 11, 1869 (aged 68)
Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic |
| Alma mater |
University of Pennsylvania |
| Profession |
Politician, Lawyer |
Robert John Walker (July 23, 1801 – November 11, 1869) was an American economist and statesman.
Early life and education
Born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the son of a judge, he graduated in 1819 at the top of his class at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Philomathean Society, and was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh in 1821. He practiced law in Pittsburgh from 1822 until 1826 when he moved to Mississippi. There he joined his brother, Duncan Walker, in a lucrative law practice. Walker became a speculator in cotton, land and slaves. (In 1838 he freed his own slaves due to immense pressure from Congress.)
Political life
He became politically prominent during the nullification crisis, and from 1836 to 1845 he sat in the United States Senate as a Unionist Democrat. Being an ardent expansionist, he voted for the recognition of the Republic of Texas in 1837 and for the joint annexation resolution of 1845, and advocated the nomination and election of James K. Polk in 1844. He favored the award of public lands to new states; endorsed a low tariff; opposed distribution of the federal surplus funds for fear of creating an excuse to raise tariff rates; and, significantly, supported the independent Treasury system idea. He also opposed the Bank of the United States.
As a Mississippi senator, Walker was a passionate defender of slavery, both for economic benefits, and because he believed Negroes would fall into turpitude or insanity without firm masters. He claimed that independent Texas had to be annexed to prevent it from falling into the hands of Great Britain, which would use it to spread subversion throughout the South. He warned northerners that if Britain succeeded in undermining slavery, the freedmen would go north, where "the poor-house and the jail, the asylums of the deaf and dumb, the blind, the idiot and insane, would be filled to overflowing."[1]
He was U.S. Secretary of the Treasury throughout the Polk administration, from March 8, 1845 until March 5, 1849, and was generally recognized as the most influential member of the President's Cabinet.
As Treasury Secretary, Walker financed the Mexican-American War and drafted the 1849 bill to establish the United States Department of the Interior. He also supported the independent Treasury system, pushed for a tariff for revenue, and established a warehousing system for handling imports that has had lasting influence.
Walker's greatest work was the preparation of the famous Treasury report of December 3, 1845. It is regarded as the most powerful attack upon the protection system that has ever been made in an American state paper. The Walker Tariff of 1846 was based upon the principles of this paper and was in fact largely the secretary's own work.
After leaving Treasury in 1849, Walker devoted himself to business and land speculation, as well as mining interests.
Walker at first opposed the Compromise of 1850, but was won over later by the arguments of Stephen A. Douglas. He was appointed governor of Kansas Territory in the spring of 1857 by President James Buchanan, but resigned within the year because of his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution. In a resignation letter to Secretary of State Lewis Cass dated December 15, 1857 , he cited clear voting fraud and improper political pressure from the Administration. He did not, however, break with his party immediately, and favored the so-called English Bill. It was partly due to his influence that a sufficient number of anti-Lecompton Democrats were induced to vote for that measure to secure its passage.
He supported the Union cause during the American Civil War and in 1863 and 1864, as financial agent of the United States, did much to create confidence in Europe in the financial resources of the United States. During this time Walker was instrumental in securing a loan of $250,000,000 from Germany.
He practiced law in Washington, D.C., from 1864 until his death there in 1869. Both during and after the Civil War he was a contributor to the Continental Monthly, which for a short time he also, with James R. Gilmore, conducted.
Walker was the father-in-law of Benjamin H. Brewster, Attorney General under Chester A. Arthur.
Initially, Walker County, Texas, was named in his honor. However, due to his support of the Union during the Civil War, the Texas Legislature withdrew the honor and honored Samuel Walker, a Texas Ranger, instead.
Commemoration
The survey ship Robert J. Walker, which served in the United States Coast Survey from 1848 to 1860, was named for Walker.
External links
References
- ^ Hietala, Thomas (2003). Manifest Design, American Exceptionalism and Empire. Cornell University Press. p. 29.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| United States Senate |
Preceded by
George Poindexter |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Mississippi
March 4, 1835 – March 5, 1845
Served alongside: John Black, James F. Trotter, Thomas H. Williams, John Henderson, Jesse Speight |
Succeeded by
Joseph W. Chalmers |
| Political offices |
Preceded by
George M. Bibb |
United States Secretary of the Treasury
Served under: James K. Polk
March 8, 1845 – March 5, 1849 |
Succeeded by
William M. Meredith |
Preceded by
John W. Geary |
Territorial Governor of Kansas
April, 1857 – December, 1857 |
Succeeded by
James W. Denver |
