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Joel Roberts Poinsett | |
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| 15th United States Secretary of War | |
| In office March 7, 1837 – March 4, 1841 | |
| President | Martin Van Buren |
| Preceded by | Lewis Cass |
| Succeeded by | John Bell |
| United States Minister to Mexico | |
| In office June 1, 1825 – October 17, 1829 | |
| President | John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | James Wilkinson (Envoy) |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Butler (Acting) |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1821 – March 7, 1825 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Pinckney |
| Succeeded by | William Drayton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joel Roberts Poinsett March 2, 1779 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | December 12, 1851 (aged 72) Stateburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Izard Pringle |
| Parents |
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| Education | University of Edinburgh Royal Military Academy, Woolwich |
Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician, diplomat and botanist. He was the first U.S. agent in South America, a member of the South Carolina legislature and the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico, a Unionist leader in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis, Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution).