LEWIS CASS (1847)

U.S. Army officer and public official who served as governor of Michigan Territory for 18 years (1813-31) and remained active in national Democratic politics till 1860: he was defeated for the presidency in 1848.

During the War of 1812 he rose brigadier general in the regular army. As secretary of war in Press. Andrew Jackson´s Cabinet (1831-36), he directed the conduct of the Black Hawk and Seminole wars.

For the next six years he served as minister to France.

As a member of the U.S. Senate (1845-48, 1849-57), Cass became a leader of the 1846 bloc demanding the reannexation of all the Oregon country south of 54º 40´ or war with England.

He supported Pres. James K. Polk´s administration during the Mexican War (1846-48) and opposed the Wilmot Proviso, an anti-slavery proposal applying to land acquired from Mexico.

In the 1848 presidential campaign, Cass was the Democratic nominee but was defeated by the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor.

He served as secretary of state (1857-60) under Pres. James Buchanan but he retired from the post when the President refused to take a firmer attitude against secession.

Crass wrote for the North American Review and the American Quarterly Review and published Inquiries Respecting the History, Traditions, Languages... of Indians Livinh Within the United States (1823) and France: Its King, Court and Government (1840).