George Washington Campbell (February 9, 1769February 17, 1848) was an American statesman who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

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U.S. Ambassador to Russia The ambassador of the United States of America to the Russian Federation is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Russian Federation. Since September 4, 2022, Elizabeth Rood is serving as the ...

and the 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury from February to October 1814.

Biography

Born in the village of Tongue,

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shire on the north coast of Scotland, Campbell immigrated as a young boy to North Carolina in 1772 with his parents. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (which is now Princeton University) in 1794 and began studying law. He was admitted to the

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in North Carolina and began practicing in Knoxville, Tennessee. He owned slaves.

U.S. House

Campbell was elected to the United States House of Representatives as the Representative from

Tennessee's at-large congressional district List of members representing the district The district was organized after achieving statehood in 1796 1796–1805: One, then three seats Tennessee began with one seat in 1796. It was apportioned two more seats in 1803. With the addition of t ...

in 1803. He served in the House from 1805–1809, in the

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, and 10th Congresses. During the 10th Congress, he was the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He was also one of the House managers appointed in 1804 to prosecute the case in the impeachment trial of

John Pickering John Pickering may refer to: * John Pickering (dramatist), author of the play ''Horestes'' first published in 1567 * John Pickering (MP) (1585–1628), MP for Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency), Northamptonshire, 1626 * John Pickering (s ...

, judge of the

United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (in case citations, D.N.H.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of New Hampshire. The Warren B. Rudman U.S. Courthouse for the New Hampshir ...

, and, later that year, he was also appointed a House manager for the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase,

associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 18 ...

. He left Congress in 1809 to become judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until 1811.

U.S. Senate and ambassadorship

Campbell served as a United States Senator from Tennessee twice, once from 1811 to 1814, having been elected to fill the seat of Jenkin Whiteside, and again from 1815 to 1818. His first service was from October 8, 1811 to February 11, 1814, when he resigned to accept appointment as the United States Secretary of the Treasury. He returned to the Senate on October 10, 1815. He served as the first chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and its predecessor from December 4, 1815, until his resignation from the Senate on April 20, 1818; on this occasion to accept appointment as United States Ambassador to Russia, a position he held from 1818 to 1821. Campbell served as a member of the French Spoliation Claims Commission in 1831.

Secretary of the Treasury

Appointed Secretary of the Treasury by James Madison, Campbell faced national financial disorder brought on by the War of 1812. Congress had failed to recharter the

First Bank of the United States First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

after its charter expired in 1811, and appropriations for the war were unavailable, so Campbell had to convince Americans to buy government bonds. He was forced to meet lenders' terms, selling government bonds at exorbitant interest rates. In September 1814 the British occupied Washington, D.C. and the credit of the government was lowered even further. He was unsuccessful in his efforts to raise money through additional bond sales and he resigned that October after only eight months in office, disillusioned and in bad health. Campbell died in 1848 and is buried at

Nashville City Cemetery Nashville City Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of Nashville's prominent historical figures are buried there. It includes the tombs of 22,000 people, 6,000 of whom were African Americans. Overview Nashville ...

in Nashville, Tennessee.

Campbell County, Tennessee Campbell County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the state's northern border in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 39,272. Its county seat is Jacksboro. Campbell County is included in the Kno ...

, is named in his honor.

References

Google Books, page 272 for Year 1794

External links