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William Short | |
|---|---|
&sq=Sri Lanka&lang=en&file=File:Portrait_of_William_Short.jpg) portrait by Rembrandt Peale | |
| 2nd United States Minister to Spain | |
| In office September 7, 1794 – November 1, 1795 | |
| President | George Washington |
| Preceded by | John Jay |
| Succeeded by | David Humphreys |
| 2nd United States Minister to the Netherlands | |
| In office June 18, 1792 – December 19, 1792 | |
| President | George Washington |
| Preceded by | John Adams |
| Succeeded by | John Quincy Adams |
| 3rd United States Minister to France | |
| In office June 14, 1790 – May 15, 1792 | |
| President | George Washington |
| Preceded by | Thomas Jefferson |
| Succeeded by | Gouverneur Morris |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1759 Surry County, Virginia, United States |
| Died | 1849 (aged 89–90) |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1] |
| Relatives | Peyton Short, brother |
| Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
William Short (1759–1849) was an American diplomat during the early years of the United States. He served as Thomas Jefferson's private secretary when the latter was a peace commissioner in France, and remained in Europe to take on several other diplomatic posts. Jefferson, later the third President of the United States, was a lifelong mentor and friend. In a 1789 letter, Jefferson referred to Short as his "adoptive son."[2]
Short was an early member and president (1778–1781) of Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William & Mary and was elected to Virginia's Executive Council from 1783 to 1784. After serving as the U.S.'s chargé d'affaires in France during the French Revolution (1789–92). In 1792 he was appointed as America's Minister to the Netherlands, and from 1794 to 1795 he served as a treaty commissioner to Spain.[3][4] In 1804, Short was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.[5] Although his diplomatic career was not as celebrated or long as Short may have wished, and his love affair with a French noblewoman ended with her marrying another man, Short was a successful businessman and an opponent of slavery who died very wealthy in America.[6]
- ^ Yaster, Carol; Wolgemuth, Rachel (2017). Laurel Hill Cemetery. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4671-2655-7. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ Jefferson, Thomas. "Letter to John Trumbull". Founders Online. National Archives. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ^ The United States did not have ambassadors until 1893. Until that time, the highest ranking diplomats were known as ministers.
- ^ "Who were the first U.S. Ambassadors?". United States Department of State. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
- ^ Shackelford, George Green (1993). Jefferson's Adoptive Son: The Life of William Short, 1759–1848. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 4, 11, 42–43, 55, 178. ISBN 0-8131-1797-6.