1. John Appleton was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as the United States' first charge d'affaires to Bolivia, and later as special envoy to Great Britain and Russia.
28 Facts About John Appleton
1. 2.
In January 1848 John Appleton was promoted to Chief Clerk of the State Department, but resigned in March when he was named as the United States' first charge d'affaires to Bolivia.
3.
The posting was unsuccessful, and John Appleton resigned after six months service and returned to the United States to pursue his personal political interests.
4.
In 1855 John Appleton was sent as diplomatic envoy to London, England to promote United States interests in negotiations to end the Crimean War.
5.
John Appleton returned to the United States in 1857 and was appointed as the fourth Assistant Secretary of State, a post he held for the following three years.
6.
John Appleton was the United States' envoy to Russia from 1860 until his retirement in 1861.
7.
John Appleton died on August 22,1864, and is buried in Portland's Evergreen Cemetery.
8.
John Appleton was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on February 11,1815.
9.
John Appleton's father, John White Appleton, was a resident of Portland, Maine; his mother, Sophia Appleton was from Connecticut.
10.
John Appleton was the third child of nine of his parents and spent most of his childhood in Portland.
11.
John Appleton studied law at Bowdoin College in the 1830s, graduating as a Legum Doctor in 1834 and pursuing further studies at Harvard Law School in the summers of 1835 and 1836.
12.
In 1838 John Appleton was appointed as lead editor of the Eastern Argus, a now-defunct newspaper serving the Portland area, and in 1840 and from 1842 to 1844 he served as registrar of probates for Cumberland County.
13.
John Appleton married Susan Lovering Dodge in 1840, and their only child, Eben Dodge Appleton, was born in Portland in 1843.
14.
On January 26,1848, John Appleton was promoted to the role of Chief Clerk for the Department of State.
15.
On March 30,1848, then-Secretary of State James Buchanan appointed John Appleton as United States charge d'affaires to Bolivia, which had recently declared independence from Peru.
16.
John Appleton set out for his Bolivian post in the summer of 1848.
17.
Attempts to deliver on Buchanan's instructions for a cross-border treaty with Peru were rebuffed, as the Peruvian Government had not been advised that John Appleton would be undertaking this task and declined to negotiate with him.
18.
Discontented and in poor health, John Appleton requested that he be recalled to the United States.
19.
John Appleton resigned on May 4,1849, less than six months after assuming his post.
20.
John Appleton returned to Maine in late 1849 and resumed his interests in a political career.
21.
John Appleton's focus was now on European affairs, taking a conservative line against international republicanism and political reform which he felt was motivated by emotion rather than reason.
22.
John Appleton's speaking skills were recognized in December 1852 when he was chosen by Congress to read the obituary address for former Senator and Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
23.
John Appleton declined to run for re-election to Congress in 1852.
24.
John Appleton resigned his position on November 16,1855, having held it for 271 days.
25.
John Appleton was nominated as United States charge d'affaires in London, but declined the position and returned home to assist James Buchanan's Presidential campaign.
26.
John Appleton superseded the Chief Clerk as the second-ranking officer of the department.
27.
In 1858, John Appleton was charged with corruption from his involvement in the "public printing plunder", in which he used his influence and his position as editor to make around $10,000.
28.
John Appleton resigned as Assistant Secretary of State on June 10,1860.