Robert P. Letcher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 16thUnited States Ambassador toMexico | |
| In office 1849–1852 | |
| President | Zachary Taylor |
| Preceded by | Nathan Clifford |
| Succeeded by | Robert Greenhow |
| 15th Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office September 2, 1840 – September 4, 1844 | |
| Lieutenant | Manlius Valerius Thomson |
| Preceded by | Charles A. Wickliffe |
| Succeeded by | William Owsley |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Metcalfe |
| Succeeded by | Martin Beaty |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 5th district | |
| In office August 6, 1834 – March 3, 1835 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Mentor Johnson |
| Succeeded by | James Harlan |
| Member of theKentucky House of Representatives | |
| In office 1813–1815 1817–1821 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1788-02-10)February 10, 1788 |
| Died | January 24, 1861(1861-01-24) (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Frankfort Cemetery |
| Party | Democratic Republican,National Republican Party,Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Oden Epps Charlotte Robertson |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Robert Perkins Letcher (February 10, 1788 – January 24, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer who was the 15thgovernor of Kentucky from 1840 to 1844. He served as aU.S. Representative fromKentucky from 1823 to 1833 and from 1834 to 1835. He also served asMinister to Mexico and in theKentucky General Assembly where he wasSpeaker of the House in 1837 and 1838. A strong supporter of theWhig Party, he was a friend ofHenry Clay andJohn J. Crittenden.
Letcher's family came to Kentucky around 1800. Letcher attended the private academy ofJoshua Fry, then studied law. He was briefly ajudge advocate inJohn Allen's volunteer militia during theWar of 1812. He began his political career in 1813, representingGarrard County in theKentucky House of Representatives. In 1823, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for more than a decade. During the1824 presidential election, he acted as an intermediary betweenJohn Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. Adams' opponent,Andrew Jackson, charged that, through these negotiations, Clay agreed to support Adams for president in exchange for being namedSecretary of State.
In 1840, Letcher became the Whig nominee for governor of Kentucky overWilliam Owsley. In the general election, Letcher won by a landslide over JudgeRichard French. Letcher's fiscally conservative policies helped Kentucky recover from the financialPanic of 1837. By the end of his term, the state was experiencing budget surpluses and state banks had resumed specie payments. After Letcher left office, he was appointed Minister to Mexico by PresidentZachary Taylor. Following this, he made an attempt to return to the U.S. House, but was defeated byDemocratJohn C. Breckinridge. Letcher's defeat in Henry Clay's home district was a strong indication of the decline of Whig influence in Kentucky. Though he remained active in politics, Letcher never again sought public office. He died on January 24, 1861, at the age of seventy-two.
Robert Perkins Letcher was born inGoochland County, Virginia, on February 10, 1788.[1] He was seventh of twelve children born to Stephen Giles and Betsy (Perkins) Letcher.[2] The family moved to Kentucky about 1800, first living atHarrodsburg, then settling in Garrard County.[3] For a time, Letcher attended the common schools of the area, but he was dismissed for being unruly.[4] He studied the trade ofmasonry, though not very enthusiastically, at his father'sbrickyard.[2]
Letcher enrolled in Joshua Fry's private academy nearDanville, Kentucky, faring better under Fry's instruction than he had in the common schools, and gained a sound education.[4][5] Following his instruction at Fry's academy, he returned to his father's brickyard, where tradition holds that he helped build thestate's first governor's mansion alongside future governorThomas Metcalfe.[4] He thenread law in the office ofHumphrey Marshall, was admitted to thebar, and commenced practice inLancaster, Kentucky.[6] He owned slaves.[7] He briefly served as a judge advocate inColonel John Allen's volunteer militia during the War of 1812.[3]
Letcher first married Susan Oden Epps.[8] Epps died on March 9, 1816, and did not bear any children.[6] Following the death of his first wife, Letcher married Charlotte Robertson, sister ofGeorge Robertson, a congressman and future chief justice of theKentucky Court of Appeals.[2] Historian Jennie Morton records that Letcher referred to his second wife as "the queen".[9] No children were born as a result of this marriage, but the couple raised one of their nieces from childhood. Charlotte Letcher survived her husband, and died October 29, 1879.[10]
Nicknamed "Black Bob", Letcher was known as a witty and gregarious campaigner.[11] He was also known to distract audiences at his opponents' campaign speeches by playing afiddle.[12] His political career began in 1813 when he was elected to represent Garrard County in the Kentucky House of Representatives.[9] He served until 1815, and after a respite of one term, was re-elected in 1817.[1] In 1819, he was appointed by PresidentJames Monroe to serve as a Judge of theSuperior Court of theArkansas Territory, but he declined the appointment.[13]
Letcher was elected as aDemocratic Republican to theEighteenth Congress in 1823.[1] He represented the state'sfourth district until 1833, when the General Assembly conducted a redistricting of the state. After the redistricting, Garrard County became part of thefifth district.[2]
Letcher was a friend and ardent supporter of Henry Clay. When no candidate gained anabsolute majority of theelectoral vote in the 1824 presidential election, the outcome fell to a vote of the House of Representatives. In the political wrangling that followed, Letcher served as an intermediary between Clay and John Quincy Adams. Eventually, Clay's supporters threw their support behind Adams, reportedly in exchange for Clay's being named Secretary of State.[11] Andrew Jackson called the alleged deal the "corrupt bargain".[14]
Letcher supported Adams' administration, but became anti-administration when Jackson won the1828 presidential contest. Consistent with his support of Clay, he promoted expansion ofinternal improvements, including theMaysville Road bill vetoed by Jackson. In 1833, Clay proposed a compromise in the Senate to quell theNullification Crisis; Letcher introduced Clay's compromise in the House.[11]
In the 1833 election,Thomas P. Moore challenged Letcher for the fifth district's seat in the House of Representatives. Moore had previously represented the counties in the fifth district (Garrard excepted), and had just returned from a four-year stint as U.S. minister toGrenada.[11] The vote was so close that the House refused to seat either candidate and ordered a new election.[1][5] Letcher won the new election by 258 votes.[5] During this term, he served on theCommittee on Foreign Affairs.[6] He did not seek re-election at the end of his term.[1]
In 1836, Letcher served as a presidential elector on the Whig ticket. He returned to the Kentucky House later that year, and was re-elected every year until 1838.[1] Each of these years, he sought to become Speaker of the House.[11] In 1836, he was defeated by incumbent speakerJohn L. Helm by a vote of 45–48.[3] The following year, there was a three-way contest for speaker between Letcher, Helm, andJames Turner Morehead. After nine ballots, Helm withdrew from the race, and Letcher defeated Morehead 50–48. The next year, Letcher was re-elected to the post without opposition.[11]
The Whigs' state nominating convention was held in Harrodsburg on August 26, 1839.[3] Four candidates were initially put forward for the office of governor, but two withdrew from consideration, leaving the contest between Letcher and JudgeWilliam Owsley. Letcher won the nomination by a vote of 48–26.[11] In the general election, Letcher defeated his Democratic opponent, Judge Richard French, by a majority of over 15,000 votes (out of 95,020 cast). The Whigs also captured large majorities inboth houses of the state legislature.[5]
Just weeks after Letcher's inauguration,William Henry Harrison prevailed in the1840 presidential election. Soon after, Harrison visited Letcher inFrankfort to discuss the appointment of Letcher's friend John J. Crittenden to Harrison'scabinet. On December 14, 1840, Letcher wrote Crittenden to tell him that the General Assembly would shortly re-elect him to hisSenate seat. If he (Crittenden) were going to accept a position inPresident Harrison's cabinet, Letcher would prefer he do it before March 4, 1841, so the General Assembly would still be in session to elect Crittenden's replacement in the Senate. On January 11, 1841, Crittenden replied that he expected to be namedattorney general and believed he could accept the post before Letcher's preferred deadline. However, due to Harrison's death only a month after hisinauguration, Crittenden was not able to keep Letcher's timeline; he was appointed attorney general byJohn Tyler on March 5, 1841.[15]
For the first half of Letcher's term, the state was still struggling to recover from the financial Panic of 1837. Consistent with his Whig views, Letcher blamed the crisis on the federal government's failure to recharter theSecond Bank of the United States. To ameliorate the state's dire financial situation, Letcher drastically cut spending, including the suspension ofturnpike construction and improvements on theGreen,Kentucky, andLicking rivers.[5] These actions greatly reduced the state's deficit and improved its credit.[5][8] In each of Letcher's years in office, the state showed a small but growing budget surplus.[16]
Although Letcher generally opposed debt relief measures, he did allow the passage of some minor legislation to aid those most in danger offoreclosure on their property.[5] In 1842, legislation was passed that expanded the types of personal property that were exempted from foreclosure. The next year, the General Assembly eliminated the summer terms of thecircuit courts, effectively delaying some foreclosure hearings. Letcher also encouraged banks to make new small loans, and the legislature followed suit by moderately increasing the credit extended by state banks.[12] As the state's economy recovered, its banks resumed specie payments.[16] State bonds increased in value. By the end of Letcher's term, Kentucky had weathered the worst of the economic crisis.[12]
In one of his final acts as governor, Letcher proclaimed the firstthanksgiving day in Kentucky on September 26, 1844.[9] After leaving office, he resumed his law practice in Frankfort.[16] In 1847, he was one of four contenders for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The other contenders consisted of two fellow Whigs and a Democrat. After twenty-eight ballots, no winner emerged, and Letcher's supporters withdrew his name and nominatedJoseph R. Underwood, who eventually won the seat.[17]
Letcher was a strong supporter of Whig candidate Zachary Taylor in the1848 presidential election. When Taylor won the election, Letcher's friend John J. Crittenden recommended Letcher for the post ofpostmaster general; Taylor declined this suggestion, but instead appointed Letcher as the United Statesenvoy and minister toMexico.[17] Letcher arrived inMexico City on February 3, 1850.[18]
Letcher's primary responsibility was negotiating a treaty to protect the interests of some American citizens who had purchased the rights to construct a line of transit on theIsthmus of Tehuantepec.[17] He submitted a rough draft of the treaty to Mexican officials in March 1850.[19] After nearly three months of negotiation, Letcher signed a modified treaty on June 22, 1850. Among the modifications were a provision thattolls on Mexican-produced goods transported on the route would be twenty-percent less than those of United States goods and an increase in the authority exercised by Mexico in protecting the route. Letcher wrote to Secretary of StateJohn M. Clayton that the treaty fell short of what he had hoped for, but that he believed that its provisions were the best that could be obtained.[20]
A month after Letcher signed the treaty, Clayton was replaced as Secretary of State byDaniel Webster. In response to concerns raised by one of the Americans hoping to construct the line of transit, Webster asked that Letcher attempt to obtain certain modifications to the treaty. Letcher brought these modifications to the Mexican diplomats, but they steadfastly refused to accept them.[21] Letcher, speaking with the blessing of the administration, intimated that the United States would take the region by force if the requested concessions were not made. The Mexican government conceded that they would not be able to resist such action, but still refused to accept the modifications to the treaty.[22]
Upon learning of the strong Mexican resistance to his proposed modifications, Webster instructed Letcher to negotiate the most favorable terms to which the Mexicans would agree. On January 25, 1851, Letcher signed a second treaty that was slightly more favorable to the Americans.[21] During the time it had taken both sides to negotiate the treaty, however, public sentiment in Mexico had turned decidedly against any form of treaty with the United States regarding Tehuantepec.[23] On May 22, 1851, the Mexican government declared the agreement with the American investors null on grounds that the provisional government which granted it did not have the right to do so.[24] Letcher attempted to negotiate a new treaty to re-acquire the rights nullified by the Mexican government, but by February 14, 1852, he reported that he did not expect to be able to reach any kind of agreement.[25] He returned home in August 1852.[17]
On returning to Kentucky, Letcher resumed his legal practice. While he was away in Mexico, the congressional seat ofKentucky's Eighth District was won by DemocratJohn C. Breckinridge.[26] Known as the "Ashland district" because it contained Henry Clay'sAshland estate and much of the territory he once represented, it was a Whig bastion that hadn't been represented by a Democrat since 1828.[27] Whigs were eager to avenge the loss in 1853, and Letcher wanted to be their candidate, but at their state convention, they choseKentucky Attorney GeneralJames Harlan.[28] The nomination was not well-received among some Whig factions; Harlan withdrew in March 1853, and Letcher was chosen to replace him.[29]
Letcher first met Breckinridge in debate atNicholasville on April 18, 1853. As the incumbent, Breckinridge spoke first and focused on political issues like contrasting the higher revenue generated by the DemocraticWalker tariff with that produced by the higherTariff of 1842 favored by the Whigs.[30] Letcher, as he did for much of the campaign, responded by appealing to party loyalty; Breckinridge would misrepresent the district, he claimed, "because he is a Democrat".[31] While Breckinridge was typically well composed in debate, Letcher would often become angry. On one occasion, Letcher so frequently attempted to interrupt Breckinridge that John J. Crittenden grabbed him by the coat tails to restrain him. Breckinridge supporters derisively nicknamed Letcher "Coat Tails" for the remainder of the campaign.[32]
When Letcher's factional enemy,abolitionistCassius Marcellus Clay, endorsed Breckinridge, Letcher charged that this, combined with the abolitionist views of Breckinridge's uncle, ReverendRobert Jefferson Breckinridge, proved that Breckinridge was secretly an abolitionist, despite his consistent denial that Congress had the power to interfere with that institution.[33] Breckinridge responded by citing newspaper accounts of an 1848 campaign speech Letcher had made inIndiana on behalf ofZachary Taylor. In the speech, he predicted that the constitutional convention then under way in Kentucky would produce a document that contained provisions for gradual emancipation, noting "It is only the ultra men in the extreme South who desire the extension of slavery."[34]
Both candidates received financial support from outside the district, some of which was used to buy votes or bribe voters to stay home. Breckinridge received several thousand dollars, with a substantial amount coming from Washington, D.C., bankerWilliam Wilson Corcoran; estimates of Letcher's support ranged from $30,000 to $100,000.[35] Breckinridge won the canvass by 526 votes and received 71% of the vote inOwen County, which recorded 123 more votes than registered voters.[36]
Letcher was considered the strongest Whig candidate in the state, and his inability to win the seat was a harbinger of the ultimate failure of the Whig Party in Kentucky.[37] His loss to Breckinridge would be his last run for public office, though he remained active in politics until his death. During the1856 presidential election, Letcher spoke on behalf ofMillard Fillmore inPennsylvania, New York, and Kentucky. In 1857 and 1858, he urged John J. Crittenden to oppose theLecompton Constitution forKansas.[38]
After the dissolution of the Whig Party, Letcher generally supportedKnow-Nothing candidates in state politics. Letcher and Crittenden both supportedNational Union candidateJohn Bell in the1860 presidential election, believing he represented the best hope of peacefully resolving the tension between the north and south.[16] By election day, his health was beginning to fail.[38] He died at his home in Frankfort on January 24, 1861, aged 72, and was buried inFrankfort Cemetery.[1][39]Letcher County, Kentucky, is named in his honor.[16]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Whig nominee forGovernor of Kentucky 1840 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 4th congressional district March 3, 1823 – March 3, 1833 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 5th congressional district August 6, 1834 – March 3, 1835 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Kentucky September 2, 1840 – September 4, 1844 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
