Isaac Toucey
|
|
Isaac_Toucy.jpeg
Isaac Toucey (November 15, 1792–July 30, 1869) was an American statesman who served as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney General of the United States and Governor of Connecticut.
Born in either Newton, Massachusetts or Newton, Connecticut, Toucey studied law at was admitted to the bar at Hartford, Connecticut in 1818. He began practicing and in 1822 was named prosecuting attorney of Hartford County, Connecticut. He served in that position until 1835, when he was elected to the 24th and 25th Congresses (at-large and then representing the 1st District). He lost the election of 1838 and returned to his position as prosecuting attorney in 1842. He ran for Governor in 1845, and lost, but the Connecticut State Legislature appointed him to the position in 1846; he was defeated in an attempt at re-election.
In 1848, President of the United States James K. Polk appointed him the 20th Attorney General of the United States, a position he held until 1849. He returned to Connecticut and took a place in the Connecticut Senate in 1850, and then in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1852.
He was elected to the U.S. Senate for the term commencing March 4, 1851, and served from May 12, 1852, to March 3, 1857, having that year declined to be a candidate for reelection.
James Buchanan appointed him U.S. Secretary of the Navy in his Cabinet in 1857 and he held that post until 1861 and the arrival of the Abraham Lincoln administration. After 1861 he returned to the law, and died in Hartford in 1869.
USS Toucey (DD-282) was named for him.
Sources
- This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External link
- Connecticut State Library: Isaac Toucey, Governor of Connecticut, 1846-1847 (http://www.cslib.org/gov/touceyi.htm)
| Preceded by: Roger Sherman Baldwin | Governor of Connecticut 1846–1847 | Succeeded by: Clark Bissell |
| Preceded by: Nathan Clifford | United States Attorney General 1848–1849 | Succeeded by: Reverdy Johnson |
| Preceded by: Roger S. Baldwin | U.S. Senator from Connecticut 1851–1857 | Succeeded by: James Dixon |
| Preceded by: James C. Dobbin | United States Secretary of the Navy 1857–1861 | Succeeded by: Gideon Welles |