Levi Woodbury

Levi Woodbury
Woodbury c. 1847
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office
September 23, 1845 – September 4, 1851[1]
Nominated byJames K. Polk
Preceded byJoseph Story
Succeeded byBenjamin Robbins Curtis
13th United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office
July 1, 1834 – March 4, 1841
PresidentAndrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
Preceded byRoger Taney
Succeeded byThomas Ewing
9th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office
May 23, 1831 – June 30, 1834
PresidentAndrew Jackson
Preceded byJohn Branch
Succeeded byMahlon Dickerson
9th Governor of New Hampshire
In office
June 5, 1823 – June 3, 1824
Preceded bySamuel Bell
Succeeded byDavid Morril
United States Senator
from New Hampshire
In office
March 4, 1841 – November 20, 1845
Preceded byHenry Hubbard
Succeeded byBenning Jenness
In office
March 16, 1825 – March 3, 1831
Preceded byJohn Parrott
Succeeded byIsaac Hill
Personal details
Born(1789-12-22)December 22, 1789
Francestown, New Hampshire, U.S.
DiedSeptember 4, 1851(1851-09-04) (aged 61)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican (Before 1825)
Democratic (1828–1851)
SpouseElizabeth Woodbury
EducationDartmouth College (BA)
Litchfield Law School
Signature

Levi Woodbury (December 22, 1789 – September 4, 1851) was an American attorney, jurist, and Democratic politician from New Hampshire. During a four-decade career in public office, Woodbury served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a United States Senator, the ninth governor of New Hampshire, and cabinet member in the Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren administrations. He was promoted as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1848.

Born in Francestown, New Hampshire, he established a legal practice in Francestown in 1812. After serving in the New Hampshire Senate, he was appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 1817. He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1823 to 1824 and represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 1825 to 1831, becoming affiliated with the Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson. He served as the United States Secretary of the Navy under President Jackson and as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under Jackson and President Martin Van Buren.

He served another term representing New Hampshire in the Senate from 1841 to 1845, when he accepted President James K. Polk's appointment to the Supreme Court. Woodbury was the first Justice to have attended law school.[a] He received significant support for the presidential nomination at the 1848 Democratic National Convention, particularly among New England delegates, but the nomination went to Lewis Cass of Michigan. Woodbury served on the court until his death in 1851. Woodbury died of an inflammatory tumor in the stomach.[2]

  1. ^ "Justices 1789 to Present". Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (September 6, 1851). "The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, September 06, 1851, Image 2". ISSN 2474-3224. Retrieved September 22, 2022.


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