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Robert Smith (November 3, 1757 – November 26, 1842) was an American politician. He served as the second
United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
from 1801 to 1809 and the sixth
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
from 1809 to 1811. He was the brother of
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Samuel Smith.


Early life

Smith was born in Lancaster in the
Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...
. During the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, he fought in the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
and participated in the
Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, Sir William Howe on September& ...
. He graduated from
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
in 1781 and began to practice law in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
.


Career

Smith was selected as an elector to the Electoral College representing Maryland during the
1788–89 United States presidential election The 1788–1789 United States presidential election was the first quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Monday, December 15, 1788, to Saturday, January 10, 1789, under the new Constitution ratified that same year. George Washingto ...
. He was then elected to the
Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-m ...
from 1793 to 1795 and to the
Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...
from 1796 to 1800. President
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in July 1801 after William Jones declined the position. On March 2, 1805, the Senate confirmed the appointments of Smith as
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
and
Jacob Crowninshield Jacob Crowninshield (March 31, 1770 – April 15, 1808) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and appointee to the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy, which he never filled. His brother Benjamin Williams Crowninshield did success ...
as Secretary of the Navy. However, Crowninshield declined his appointment, so Smith briefly served as both Attorney General and Secretary of the Navy. Eventually, President Jefferson appointed
John Breckinridge John Breckinridge or Breckenridge may refer to: * John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) (1760–1806), U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General * John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875), U.S. Representative and Senator, 14th Vice President of the Unit ...
to replace Smith as Attorney General and Smith resumed his role as a full-time Secretary of the Navy. Smith left the office of Secretary of the Navy at the end of President Jefferson's administration on March 4, 1809. President
James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
appointed Smith to serve as Secretary of State on March 6, 1809, and he served in this position until his forced resignation on April 1, 1811.


Policies

Smith was closely allied with his brother, Maryland Senator Samuel Smith. He bitterly opposed Treasury Secretary
Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan–American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years o ...
. Madison thought he could be his own Secretary of State, but Smith so often pursued opposite policies that Madison finally demanded his resignation. In Madison's April 1811 "Memorandum on Robert Smith" the president offered a laundry list of Smith's shortcomings: he questioned Smith's loyalty; he found Smith's diplomatic correspondence wanting; he had been indiscreet in conversations with the British; and he had opposed the Administration's efforts to secure concessions from Britain and France by limiting trade. Apparently Smith was bewildered by these and other charges leveled by Madison and published an exoneration of himself, "Robert Smith's Address to the People of the United States," an attack on Madison's foreign policy. Madison offered Smith the post of Minister to Russia, then currently held by
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
. Smith considered the offer, but in the end, he refused the post.Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg. ''Madison and Jefferson'', New York: Random House (2010), p. 495.


Personal life

Smith became the president of the not-yet-fully-organized
American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engag ...
in 1813. In 1818, he became the founding president of the Maryland Agriculture Society and afterwards retired to a more private life where he enjoyed his wealth. Robert Smith died in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
, on November 26, 1842, aged 85.


Legacy

The was named for him.


References

* Clifford Egan, "Robert Smith" in Edward S. Mihalkanin, ed. ''American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell'', Greenwood Press 2004, pp. 478–83.


External links

*
Robert Smith
at the
Naval Historical Center The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard. ...

Robert Smith
at the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

Robert Smith
at the Hall of the Secretaries of State , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert 1757 births 1842 deaths American people of the War of 1812 Burials at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground Continental Army soldiers Jefferson administration cabinet members Maryland state senators Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania People of Maryland in the American Revolution Princeton University alumni United States Secretaries of the Navy United States Secretaries of State Madison administration cabinet members 19th-century American politicians American slave owners