Louis McLane was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland.
42 Facts About Louis McLane
2.
Louis McLane was a veteran of the War of 1812, a member of the Federalist Party and later the Democratic Party.
3.
Louis McLane pursued a more moderate approach towards the Second Bank of the United States than the President, but agreed with Jackson's decision in 1832 to veto a Congressional bill renewing the Bank's charter.
4.
Louis McLane was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1831.
5.
Louis McLane's father, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, appointed by George Washington in 1797 to the lucrative federal position of Customs collector for the Port of Wilmington.
6.
Allan Louis McLane retained the position for over 30 years, under presidents of both parties, until his death during the administration of Andrew Jackson.
7.
Louis McLane inherited much of this wealth, along with legal issues that lasted well beyond the death of his father.
8.
Louis McLane then attended Newark College, later the University of Delaware.
9.
Louis McLane studied law under James A Bayard, and was admitted to the bar in 1807.
10.
Ultimately, they saw no action, and Louis McLane left the unit with the rank of first lieutenant.
11.
Louis McLane was first elected to the US House of Representatives by defeating Thomas Clayton for the Federalist nomination, as Clayton was politically damaged by having voted for a Congressional pay raise in the previous session.
12.
Nevertheless, Louis McLane was elected six times as a Federalist to the US House of Representatives, from 1816 through 1826.
13.
Louis McLane had a most distinguished career in the US House, serving five full terms from March 4,1817 to March 3,1827.
14.
Louis McLane moved to the US Senate and served there from March 4,1827 until his resignation in 1829, in expectation that President Jackson would appoint him to a federal office.
15.
In October 1829, Louis McLane reluctantly accepted an appointment as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom, which had been arranged by his friend Martin Van Buren, now US Secretary of State.
16.
Louis McLane was instructed to inform the English that his appointment signaled a break from the John Quincy Adams administration, and that issues of dispute under the Adams Administration would no longer be issues in a Jackson administration.
17.
Two years later, Louis McLane finally received the cabinet appointment he had so longed for.
18.
When Jackson decided he needed to purge his cabinet of supporters of US Senator John C Calhoun, Van Buren was able to convince the president to appoint McLane to be the Secretary of the Treasury.
19.
Louis McLane returned from England and served as Treasury Secretary from August 8,1831 to May 28,1833.
20.
When Louis McLane entered Jackson's cabinet, he immediately assumed a position of leadership.
21.
At the time Jackson was somewhat flexible on the issue, and Louis McLane wanted to postpone the decision until after the presidential election of 1832.
22.
However, when Louis McLane refused to remove the governments deposits from the Second Bank of the United States, Jackson had to replace him with someone that would, and offered Louis McLane the prestigious US Secretary of State instead.
23.
The appointment was a great embarrassment to Jackson, and many blamed Louis McLane for urging it.
24.
Louis McLane quickly managed the first major reorganization of the department, by establishing seven new bureaus.
25.
Louis McLane managed a dispute with France, over what were known as the "Spoliation Claims".
26.
Jackson was impatient to resolve the issue and worked with Louis McLane to develop a hard line policy, confronting the French.
27.
Louis McLane was furious with his old mentor for this intervention, and resigned his position, recognizing his apparent lack of authority in a direct area of responsibility.
28.
Louis McLane was President for one year, implemented many improvements, and produced one of the few profitable years the company had.
29.
The profits were not substantial and Louis McLane was consumed with financing rearrangements and negotiations with Pennsylvania and Virginia over possible routes west.
30.
Louis McLane never seemed to appreciate the value of this work and ultimately retired on September 13,1848.
31.
In spite of his political setbacks Louis McLane never lost his ambition for high political office.
32.
Louis McLane was remembered fondly from his previous service, and renewed his old friendships.
33.
The son of a Scots-Irish adventurer and politician from Delaware, Louis McLane had married into the Eastern shore gentry of Maryland and ever longed for the idyllic plantation life seemingly promised.
34.
Further, with his adherence to the party of Andrew Jackson and resignation from the United States Senate in 1829, Louis McLane effectively admitted his political career in Delaware was over.
35.
Louis McLane remained there after his retirement and entered the political life of his new home.
36.
Louis McLane died in Baltimore, Maryland and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery.
37.
Louis McLane was intelligent and able, clear-minded and efficient, but to the average man and even to some of his children, he was not lovable.
38.
Louis McLane was almost sinfully ambitious, as his father had encouraged him to be.
39.
Louis McLane was often meanly suspicious, and life had encouraged him to be ever mindful of his welfare and that of the large family dependent on him.
40.
Louis McLane was easily affronted and held grudges almost with glee against those who crossed him.
41.
Louis McLane was immensely persuasive, but in the long run he abandoned in disgust each of the successive scenes of his triumphs.
42.
Louis McLane owned the Zachariah Ferris House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.