George S. Boutwell

George S. Boutwell

George Sewall Boutwell (January 28, 1818 – February 27, 1905) was an American statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant, the 20th Governor of Massachusetts, a Senator and Representative from Massachusetts and the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Abraham Lincoln. Boutwell, an abolitionist, is primarily known for his leadership in the formation of the Republican Party, and his championship of African American citizenship and suffrage rights during Reconstruction. Boutwell, as U.S. Representative, was instrumental in the passage and construction of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Raised modestly on his father's farms in Massachusetts, Boutwell attended public school until the age of seventeen. After working jobs as a clerk in various shops and trading stores, Boutwell entered politics as a Democrat, served as a representative in Massachusetts state legislature, and eventually was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1851. Boutwell managed a powerful coalition of Democrats and Free Soilers, headed by Charles Sumner, that were able to defeat the established Whig Party. Having left the Democratic Party, Boutwell became a founder of the Republican Party in 1854, formed to end the spread of slavery, and advocated the party's radical practical elements. In 1862, Boutwell passed the bar and began to practice law. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1863 during the American Civil War, Boutwell became prominent nationally as a Radical Republican. During Reconstruction, Rep. Boutwell served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction that framed the Fourteenth Amendment that gave African American freedmen citizenship and established the inviolability of the United States Public Debt. Boutwell advocated the Fifteenth Amendment that gave full suffrage rights to African Americans.

Rep. Boutwell gained notoriety for his fanatical opposition to President Andrew Johnson that led to Johnson's impeachment in 1868. For his service to the Radical Republicans, President Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican, appointed Boutwell to Secretary of Treasury. Sec. Boutwell reduced the national debt, thwarted the Gold Ring, secured the nation from counterfeit currency plates, and reduced millions of U.S. government bonds from 6% interest to 5% interest. In 1873, Boutwell resigned as Secretary of Treasury and was elected U.S. Senator, serving one term until 1877. After his term as U.S. Senator, Boutwell was appointed Commissioner to revise the statutes of the United States by President Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1880, Boutwell was appointed by President Hayes an arbitrator to settle disputes between France and the United States. He resumed his law practice, arguing various international law cases. He wrote several books, including The Constitution of the United States at the End of the First Century in 1895. In 1898, Boutwell left the Republican Party due to his opposition of the annexation of the Philippines and served as President of the Anti-Imperialist League until his death in 1905.