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The Green Bag

party over the War of 1812, to which

tion to President Jackson, or the public

he with many others was opposed.

men who were his contemporaries, no

It

cannot, however, be said that he as

correct understanding of his inﬂuence

pired to lead a political life, and his

upon the Court and upon our law can be formed without some reference to him as a member of President Jackson's Cabinet. Whether as Attorney-Gen eral or Secretary of the Treasury, he no

constantly increasing practice and rising

fame as a lawyer led him to remove from Frederick, where he ﬁrst settled, to Baltimore, where he shortly became, by appointment of the Governor, At torney-General of the state. Never much addicted to society, though ex

ceedingly gracious and urbane in social intercourse, he gave himself unsparingly to the law, and the reward both sure and

steadfast was his, of complete profes sional success. But the time was now at hand when at the age of ﬁfty-two he was to pass to a wider career, of which the foundations had been broadly and deeply laid. In 1828 Gen. Jackson had been elected President on the Republican ticket, de

doubt heartily approved of the Presi dential policies, and not only advised as to the veto of the bill renewing the

charter of the Bank of the United States but substantially wrote the message. The intensity of feeling over legislation relat ing to the United States Bank was great.

The friends of the bank, Binney, Adams, and McDuf’ﬁe in the House, Webster, Clay and Calhoun in the Senate, de

nounced Jackson and Taney in un measured terms. It seemingly was not enough to oppose them as political an tagonists, whose acts were repeatedly

feating John Quincy Adams, who ran declared to be unconstitutional, but for re-election, and in organizing his their motives as men and lovers of their Cabinet desired a representative of the. country were assailed by the Whig press and the rank and ﬁle of the party. It Federalist party. Taney, although op posed to the War of 1812, after it began did not tend to mitigate, but rather to cordially supported the government, increase asperities, that the ground upon and this attitude, with his undoubted which Taney advised Jackson, and upon qualiﬁcations for the oﬁice, led to his which Jackson really rested his policy, appointment as Attorney-General of the

United States.

At this period, by rea

son of his personal fame, and as the legal

was that the bank constituted a monop oly more or less destructive of the state

banks, and dangerous in its tendencies

adviser of Jackson in his long contro

to the

versy with the United States Bank,

issue, however, was joined at the polls

Taney became and continued to be a prominent personage in our national life until the opening of the Civil War. It has been his misfortune, as of other

eminent men of whom there are many conspicuous examples, that generally his place in our history has been de

welfare of the states.

Final

in the Presidential election of 1832, and Jackson was vindicated. Having failed to obtain a continuation of its charter no course was left except liquidation,

and the state banks having been‘- found safely adequate as ﬁscal agents of the government, the President directed Mr.

ﬁned by his political enemies, and not

Duane, Secretary of the Treasury, to

by his friends. If within the range of this paper, time does not permit of more than a somewhat cursory notice before his elevation to the bench, of his rela

withdraw the deposits of the United States, and upon refusal,

he

was re

moved, and Taney. who had remained in the second Cabinet as Attorney