Hamilton Fish

Hamilton Fish
Photograph by Mathew Brady
26th United States Secretary of State
In office March 17, 1869 – March 12, 1877
President	Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes
Preceded by	Elihu B. Washburne
Succeeded by	William M. Evarts
United States Senator from New York
In office December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1857
Preceded by	Daniel S. Dickinson
Succeeded by	Preston King
16th Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1849 – December 31, 1850
Lieutenant	George W. Patterson
Preceded by	John Young
Succeeded by	Washington Hunt
Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1848 – December 31, 1848
Governor	John Young
Preceded by	Albert Lester (acting)
Succeeded by	George W. Patterson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 6th district
In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845
Preceded by	James G. Clinton
Succeeded by	William Campbell
Personal details
Born	(1808-08-03)August 3, 1808 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	September 7, 1893(1893-09-07) (aged 85) Garrison, New York, U.S.
Political party	Whig (before 1857) Republican (1857–1893)
Spouse	Julia Kean
Children	Sarah, Julia, Susan, Nicholas II, Hamilton II, Stuyvesant and Edith
Education	Columbia College (BA)
Signature

Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808 – September 7, 1893) was an American politician and statesman who served as the 16th governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States senator from New York from 1851 to 1857, and the 26th U.S. secretary of state from 1869 to 1877. Fish was the most trusted advisor to President Ulysses S. Grant and recognized as the pillar of Grant's presidency.^[1][2][3] He is considered one of the nation's most effective U.S. secretaries of state by scholars, known for his judiciousness and efforts towards reform and diplomatic moderation.^[1][2][3] He settled the controversial Alabama Claims with the United Kingdom, developing the concept of international arbitration and avoided war with Spain over Cuban independence by coolly handling the volatile Virginius incident.^[2] He also organized a peace conference and treaty between South American countries and Spain.^[4] In 1875, Fish negotiated a reciprocal trade treaty for sugar production with the Kingdom of Hawai'i, initiating the process which ended in the 1893 overthrow of the House of Kalākaua and statehood.^[2] Fish worked with James Milton Turner to settle the Liberia-Grebo War in 1876.^[5]

Fish came from prominence and wealth. His Dutch American family was long-established in New York City. He attended Columbia College and later passed the New York state bar. Initially working as commissioner of deeds, he ran unsuccessfully for New York State Assembly as a Whig candidate in 1834. After marrying, he returned to politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1843. Fish ran for New York's lieutenant governor in 1846, falling to a Democratic Anti-Rent Party contender. When the office was vacated in 1847, Fish ran and was elected to the position. In 1848, he ran and was elected governor of New York, serving one term. In 1851, he was elected U.S. Senator for New York, serving one term. Fish gained valuable experience serving on Committee on Foreign Relations. Fish was a moderate on the question of maintaining or dissolving slavery; he opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery.

After traveling to Europe, Fish returned to the United States and supported Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee for president in the 1860 U.S. presidential election. During the American Civil War, Fish raised money for the Union war effort and served on Lincoln's presidential commission that made successful arrangements for Union and Confederate troop prisoner exchanges. Fish returned to his law practice after the Civil War, and was thought to have retired from political life. When Ulysses S. Grant was elected president in 1868, he appointed Fish as U.S. secretary of state in 1869. Fish took on the State Department with vigor, reorganized the office, and established civil service reform. During his tenure, Fish had to contend with Cuban belligerency, the settlement of the Alabama claims, Canada–U.S. border disputes, and the Virginius incident. Fish implemented the new concept of international arbitration, where disputes between countries were settled by negotiations, rather than military conflicts. Fish was involved in a political feud between U.S. senator Charles Sumner and President Grant in the latter's unsuccessful efforts to annex the Dominican Republic. Fish organized a naval expedition in an unsuccessful attempt to open trade with Korea in 1871. Leaving office and politics in 1877, Fish returned to private life and continued to serve on various historical associations. Fish died quietly of old age in his luxurious New York State home in 1893.

Fish has been praised by historians for his calm demeanor under pressure, honesty, loyalty, modesty, and talented statesmanship during his tenure under President Grant, briefly serving under President Hayes. The hallmark of his career was the Treaty of Washington, peacefully settling the Alabama Claims. Fish also ably handled the Virginus incident, keeping the United States out of war with Spain. Fish, while Secretary of State, lacked empathy for the plight of African Americans,^[6] and opposed annexation of Latin American countries.^[7] Fish has been traditionally viewed to be one of America's top ranked Secretaries of State by historians. Fish's male descendants would later serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for three generations.