17 Facts About Alexander Wolcott

Alexander Wolcott was a United States politician, customs inspector, and nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Alexander Wolcott was later a delegate to the 1818 convention that drafted the Constitution of Connecticut.

Alexander Wolcott's father, Alexander Wolcott, was a medical doctor who assisted the Patriot forces during the American Revolutionary War.

The younger Alexander Wolcott attended Yale College, where he studied law and graduated in 1778.

Alexander Wolcott went on to practice law in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Alexander Wolcott served as the Democratic-Republican Party's leader in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1796 to 1801.

The inaugural meeting took place at the residence of Pierpont Edwards in New Haven, Connecticut, and Alexander Wolcott was among the leaders in Connecticut who were supporters of the campaign.

Pierpont Edwards had insisted that Alexander Wolcott was brought in to replace the previous collector of customs, described as "a violent, irritable, priest-ridden, implacable, ferocious federalist".

Alexander Wolcott was nominated by President James Madison to the US Supreme Court in 1811 to fill a vacancy left by the death of William Cushing.

Alexander Wolcott had not been Madison's first choice, as he had nominated former US Attorney General Levi Lincoln already in January 1811.

Madison's decision to nominate Alexander Wolcott was taken for primarily political reasons.

Opposition to Alexander Wolcott's nomination centered on two main reasons: his strict enforcement of controversial non-intercourse and embargo acts as customs inspector and his lack of qualifications.

Alexander Wolcott's nomination was received by the Senate on February 4,1811.

Alexander Wolcott's nomination was only the second to have been rejected in US history, the one prior to it being John Rutledge's rejection in 1795 as George Washington's nominee for Chief Justice.

Alexander Wolcott took a leadership position, and was known as the "boss".

Alexander Wolcott led the delegation of Republicans to the convention on the Constitution of Connecticut in 1818.

Alexander Wolcott sparked controversy at the convention by supporting the expulsion of any judge who declared a legislative act unconstitutional, effectively taking a position in opposition to judicial review.