Albert Gallatin
Albert Gallatin 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury In office May 14, 1801 – February 8, 1814 President Thomas Jefferson James Madison Preceded by Samuel Dexter Succeeded by George W. Campbell Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th district In office March 4, 1795 – March 4, 1801 Preceded by William Findley Succeeded by William Hoge United States Senator from Pennsylvania In office December 2, 1793 – February 28, 1794 Preceded by William Maclay Succeeded by James Ross United States Minister to France In office July 16, 1816 – May 16, 1823 Preceded by William H. Crawford Succeeded by James Brown United States Minister to the United Kingdom In office September 1, 1826 – October 4, 1827 Preceded by Rufus King Succeeded by James Barbour Personal details Born (1761-01-29)January 29, 1761 Geneva, Republic of Geneva Died August 12, 1849(1849-08-12) (aged 88) Astoria, New York, U.S. Political party Democratic-Republican Spouse(s) Sophia Gallatin (died 1790) Hannah Gallatin Profession Politician, teacher Signature Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, founder of New York University, politician, diplomat, congressman, Senator and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York, now New York University. Born in Geneva in present-day Switzerland, Gallatin immigrated to America in the 1780s, ultimately settling in Pennsylvania. He was politically active against the Federalist Party program, and was elected to the United States Senate in 1793. However, he was removed from office by a 14–12 party-line vote after a protest raised by his opponents suggested he did not meet the required nine years of citizenship. Two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives and served in the fourth through sixth Congresses, becoming House Majority Leader. He was an important member of the new Democratic-Republican Party, its chief spokesman on financial matters, and led opposition to many of the policy proposals of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. He also helped found the House Committee on Finance (later the Ways and Means Committee) and often engineered withholding of finances by the House as a method of overriding executive actions to which he objected. While Treasury Secretary, his services to his country were honored in 1805 when Meriwether Lewis named one of the three headwaters of the Missouri River after Gallatin.