Ewing, Thomas

Ewing, Thomas,

1789–1871, American statesman, b. Ohio co., Va. (now W.Va.). He represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate (1831–37) and supported Henry Clay in the Whig fight against the Jackson administration. Ewing was Secretary of the Treasury under President William Henry Harrison and his successor, President Tyler, from March to Sept., 1841, when all the cabinet except Daniel Webster resigned. President Taylor made him the first Secretary of the Interior (Mar., 1849) but in July, 1850, he resigned to fill a senatorial vacancy from Ohio until Mar., 1851. Defeated for reelection, Ewing resumed his law practice and subsequently won renown for his work before the U.S. Supreme Court.