Richard Rush


Rush, Richard,

1780–1859, Amercian statesman and diplomat, b. Philadelphia; son of Benjamin Rush. He studied law and became (1811) attorney general of Pennsylvania, resigning the same year to become comptroller of the U.S. Treasury, and from 1814 to 1817 was U.S. Attorney General. While serving temporarily as Secretary of State (1817), he helped negotiate the Rush-Bagot ConventionRush-Bagot Convention
, 1817, agreement between the United States and Great Britain concerning the Canadian border. It consisted of the exchange of notes signed by Richard Rush, Acting Secretary of State of the United States, and Charles Bagot, British minister in Washington.
..... Click the link for more information.  and in the same year was made minister to Great Britain. He signed (1818) a convention with the British providing for joint occupation of the Oregon country. His preliminary negotiations with George Canning, British foreign minister, on policy toward Latin America led to the enunciation (1823) of the Monroe Doctrine. In 1825 he became Secretary of the Treasury and in 1828 was the vice presidential candidate on the unsuccessful John Quincy Adams ticket. Rush spent from 1836 to 1838 in England obtaining the Smithson bequest for the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution. Later, he was (1847–49) minister to France.

Bibliography

See biography by J. H. Powell (1942).

Rush, Richard

(1780–1859) lawyer, diplomat; born in Philadelphia (son of Benjamin Rush). He graduated from the college of New Jersey (now Princeton) (1797). Admitted to the bar in 1800, he was the attorney-general for Pennsylvania (1811), comptroller of the U.S. treasury (1811–14), and U.S. attorney general (1814–17). Briefly secretary of state (1817), he negotiated the Rush-Bagot Agreement (which prohibited fortifications on the Great Lakes). As ambassador to Great Britain (1817–25), he was both well-liked and effective, settling issues resulting from the War of 1812 and the disputed Oregon territory; he also played an important role in setting forth the Monroe Doctrine. He was secretary of the treasury (1825–29), and after unsuccessfully running for vice-president on the ticket of John Quincy Adams, in 1828 he retired from political life for many years. From 1836 to 1838 he was in England as a lawyer who helped to secure the bequest of James Smithson that set up the Smithsonian Institution. He returned to public service to serve as ambassador to France (1847–49).