Rufus King

Rufus King
Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1820
United States Senator from New York
In office March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1825
Preceded by	John Smith
Succeeded by	Nathan Sanford
In office July 25, 1789 – May 23, 1796
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	John Laurance
United States Minister to the United Kingdom
In office November 11, 1825 – June 16, 1826
Nominated by	John Quincy Adams
Preceded by	Richard Rush
Succeeded by	Albert Gallatin
In office July 27, 1796 – May 16, 1803
Nominated by	George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by	Thomas Pinckney
Succeeded by	James Monroe
Personal details
Born	(1755-03-24)March 24, 1755 Scarborough, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Died	April 29, 1827(1827-04-29) (aged 72) Jamaica, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Grace Episcopal Churchyard
Political party	Federalist
Spouse	Mary Alsop
Children	10, including James, John, Charles, Edward
Education	Harvard College (AB)
Signature

Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution in 1787. After formation of the new Congress, he represented New York in the United States Senate. He emerged as a leading member of the Federalist Party and was the party's last presidential nominee during the 1816 presidential election.

The son of a prosperous Massachusetts merchant, King studied law before he volunteered for the militia during the American Revolutionary War. He won election to the Massachusetts General Court in 1783 and to the Congress of the Confederation the following year. At the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, he emerged as a leading nationalist and called for increased powers for the federal government. After the convention, King returned to Massachusetts, where he used his influence to help ratify the Constitution. At the urging of Alexander Hamilton, he then abandoned his law practice and moved to New York City.

He won election to represent New York in the United States Senate in 1789 and remained in office until 1796. That year, he accepted President George Washington's appointment to the position of Minister to Great Britain. Though King aligned with Hamilton's Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson retained King's services after Jefferson's victory in the 1800 presidential election. King served as the Federalist vice-presidential candidate in the 1804 and 1808 elections and ran on an unsuccessful ticket with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. Though most Federalists supported the Democratic-Republican DeWitt Clinton in the 1812 presidential election, King, without the support of his party, won the few votes of the Federalists who were unwilling to support Clinton's candidacy. In 1813, King returned to the Senate and remained in office until 1825.

King, the de facto Federalist nominee for president in 1816, lost in a landslide to James Monroe. The Federalist Party became defunct at the national level after 1816, and King was the last presidential nominee whom the party fielded. Nonetheless, King was able to remain in the Senate until 1825, which made him the last Federalist senator because of a split in the New York Democratic-Republican Party. King then accepted President John Quincy Adams's appointment to serve another term as ambassador to Great Britain, but ill health forced King to retire from public life, and he died in 1827. King had five children who lived to adulthood, and he has had numerous notable descendants.