19 Facts About Richard Olney

Richard Olney served as United States Attorney General in the cabinet of Grover Cleveland and Secretary of State under Cleveland.

Richard Olney was born into a prosperous family in Oxford, Massachusetts.

Richard Olney's father was Wilson Olney, a textiles manufacturer and banker.

The family then moved back to Oxford and Richard Olney attended school at the Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts.

Richard Olney graduated with high honors as class orator from Brown University in 1856.

Richard Olney received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1858.

Richard Olney was elected a selectman in West Roxbury, Massachusetts and served one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1874.

Richard Olney declined to run again, preferring to return to his law practice.

In 1876, Richard Olney inherited his father-in-law's Boston law practice and became involved in the business affairs of Boston's elite families.

Richard Olney was once asked by a former railroad employer if he could do something to get rid of the newly formed Interstate Commerce Commission.

In March 1893, Richard Olney became US Attorney General and used the law to thwart strikes, which he considered an illegitimate tactic contrary to law.

Richard Olney argued that the government must prevent interference with its mails and with the general railway transportation between the states.

Richard Olney ordered the Chicago district attorney to convene a grand jury to find cause to indict Eugene Debs and other labor leaders and sent federal marshals to protect rail traffic, ordering 150 marshals deputized in Helena, Montana alone.

Richard Olney quickly elevated US foreign diplomatic posts to the title of embassy, officially raising the status of the United States to one of the world's greater nations.

Richard Olney took a prominent role in the boundary dispute between the British and Venezuelan governments.

Richard Olney returned to the practice of the law in 1897, at the expiration of Cleveland's term.

In March 1913, Richard Olney turned down President Wilson's offer to be the US Ambassador to Great Britain, and later, in May 1914, when President Wilson offered Richard Olney the Appointment as Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, he declined that appointment.

Richard Olney was unwilling to take on new responsibilities at his advanced age.

In 1861, Richard Olney married Agnes Park Thomas of Boston, Massachusetts.