William Pinkney | |
|---|---|
.png) Copy of a portrait byJohn Mix Stanley, 1856 | |
| United States Senator fromMaryland | |
| In office December 21, 1819 – February 25, 1822 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Hanson |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Smith |
| 2ndUnited States Envoy to Russia | |
| In office January 13, 1817 – February 14, 1818 | |
| President | James Madison James Monroe |
| Preceded by | John Quincy Adams |
| Succeeded by | George W. Campbell |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's5th district | |
| In office March 4, 1815 – April 18, 1816 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander McKim |
| Succeeded by | Peter Little |
| 7thUnited States Attorney General | |
| In office December 11, 1811 – February 10, 1814 | |
| President | James Madison |
| Preceded by | Caesar Augustus Rodney |
| Succeeded by | Richard Rush |
| Member of theMaryland Senate | |
| In office 1811 | |
| 5thUnited States Minister to the United Kingdom | |
| In office April 27, 1808 – May 7, 1811 | |
| President | Thomas Jefferson James Madison |
| Preceded by | James Monroe |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Russell(Acting) |
| 3rdAttorney General of Maryland | |
| In office 1805–1806 | |
| Governor | Robert Bowie |
| Preceded by | Luther Martin |
| Succeeded by | John Thomson Mason |
| Mayor ofAnnapolis | |
| In office 1794–1795 | |
| Preceded by | James Williams |
| Succeeded by | Allen Quynn |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's3rd district | |
| In office March 4, 1791 – November 9, 1791 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Contee |
| Succeeded by | John Mercer |
| Member of theMaryland House of Delegates | |
| In office 1788–1792 | |
| In office 1795 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1764-03-17)March 17, 1764 |
| Died | February 25, 1822(1822-02-25) (aged 57) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse | Ann Rodgers |
| Signature | _(cropped)_signature2.jpg) |
| Military service | |
| Branch | US Army |
| Service years | 1812-1814 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | |
William Pinkney (March 17, 1764 – February 25, 1822) was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventhU.S. attorney general by PresidentJames Madison.
William Pinkney was born in 1764 inAnnapolis in theProvince of Maryland. His parents' home was on the banks of theSevern River, from where the family could see theChesapeake Bay.[1] He had English ancestry.[2]
Pinkney attended the privateKing William school. His teacher was a Mr. Brefhard. Although Pinkney left school at the age of thirteen, he had impressed his teacher with his intelligence, and Brefhard agreed to give the youth private lessons at home.[3]
Pinkney studied medicine (which he did not practice) and "read the law" with an established firm, as was the practice at the time for aspiring lawyers. He was admitted to the bar in 1786. After practicing law for two years inHarford County, Maryland, Pinkney was elected as a delegate to Maryland'sstate constitutional convention.
Pinkney was an excellentorator who possessed an impressive command of language. He was said to have been articulate and pleasing in manner.[4]
After beginning his law practice, he married Anne Rodgers. They had ten children together.Edward Coote Pinkney, born seventh, was ranked as an accomplished poet posthumously.
In April 1788, Pinkney was elected adelegate to the convention of the State of Maryland, which ratified the United States Constitution. This marked the beginning of his political career.[5]
Pinkney served in numerous electoral offices, at the local, state and national level. He was elected to and served in theMaryland House of Delegates from 1788 to 1792 and then again in 1795. He was elected mayor ofAnnapolis, serving from 1795 to 1800.
He was elected in 1790 as aU.S. Congressman fromMaryland's 3rd congressional district, serving in 1791. After the war of 1812, Pinkney was elected in 1814 from thefifth district, and served from 1815 until 1816.
He also had numerous political appointments. In 1801 he was appointed Attorney General for the District of Pennsylvania, by PresidentThomas Jefferson.[6] Jefferson next appointed him asAttorney General of Maryland, where he served from 1805 to 1806.
Pinkney was nominated as a diplomat, serving withJames Monroe as co-U.S. Ministers to theCourt of St James's inGreat Britain, 1806 to 1807. President Jefferson asked them to negotiate an end to harassment of American shipping, but Britain showed no signs of improving relations. The men negotiated theMonroe–Pinkney Treaty, but it lacked provisions to end British impressment of American sailors, and was subsequently rejected by President Jefferson and never implemented.[7]
Pinkney wasMinister Plenipotentiary from 1808 until 1811. He returned to Maryland, serving in theMaryland State Senate in 1811. In 1811 he joined PresidentJames Madison's cabinet as his Attorney General.
He was commissioned as a major in theU.S. Army during theWar of 1812 and was wounded at theBattle of Bladensburg, Maryland in August 1814. After the War, he served as congressman from thefifth district of Maryland from 1815 to 1816. He was next appointed by PresidentJames Monroe as the U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia from 1816 until 1818, along with a special mission to theKingdom of Naples.
Pinkney successfully argued many important cases before theSupreme Court, including the landmark case ofMcCulloch v. Maryland (1819), in which the right of the U.S. Congress to charter the Bank of the United States was upheld.[8]
In 1818 Pinkney was elected by the state legislature (as was the practice then) as a U.S. Senator from Maryland, serving from 1819 until his death in 1822. He is buried at theCongressional Cemetery inWashington, D.C.[9]
Writer, critic, and fellow Baltimore lawyerJohn Neal dedicated eight pages in his 1823 novelRandolph to criticizing William Pinkney. Though written before Pinkney's death, it was published shortly afterward with a footnote explaining that the author acknowledged Pinkney's death but decided to publish the book as originally written anyway.[10] Though Neal referred to him as "the greatest lawyer in America,"[11] he also characterized his speeches as "a compound of stupendous strength; feeble ornament; affected earnestness, and boisterous, turbulent declamation,"[12] concluding that "God never meant William Pinkney for an orator."[13] Neal's insults went as far as to call Pinkney "a notorious sloven" who could be seen "wiping his nose and lips on the sleeve of his coat."[14]
On the basis of these printed insults, Pinkney's son Edward Coote Pinkney challenged Neal to a duel, which Neal refused.[15] The episode likely contributed to Neal's decision to leave Baltimore later that year.[16]
Media related toWilliam Pinkney at Wikimedia Commons
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 3rd congressional district 1791 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 5th congressional district 1815–1816 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by James Williams | Mayor of Annapolis 1794–1795 | Succeeded by Allen Quynn |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Maryland 1805–1806 | Succeeded by John Thomson Mason |
| Preceded by | U.S. Attorney General Served under:James Madison 1811–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Minister to Great Britain 1807–1811 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Minister to Russia 1816–1818 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maryland 1819–1822 Served alongside:Edward Lloyd | Succeeded by |
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 Russian Empire(1780–1917) | |
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 Soviet Union(1933–1991) | |
| Russian Federation (1991–present) | |
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