Rufus Choate | |
|---|---|
 Choate c. 1853 | |
| United States Senator from Massachusetts | |
| In office February 23, 1841 – March 3, 1845 | |
| Preceded by | Daniel Webster |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Webster |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1831 – June 30, 1834 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin W. Crowninshield |
| Succeeded by | Stephen C. Phillips |
| 10th Massachusetts Attorney General | |
| In office 1853–1854 | |
| Governor | John H. Clifford |
| Preceded by | John H. Clifford |
| Succeeded by | John H. Clifford |
| Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |
| In office 1827 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1825–1826 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 1, 1799 Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | July 13, 1859 (aged 59) Halifax, British Canada |
| Resting place | Mount Auburn Cemetery Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Whig |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College Harvard University |
| Profession | Law |
Rufus Choate (/tʃoʊt/) (October 1, 1799 – July 13, 1859) was an American lawyer, orator, and Senator who represented Massachusetts as a member of the Whig Party. He is regarded as one of the greatest American lawyers of the 19th century, arguing over a thousand cases in a lifetime practice extending to virtually every branch of the law then recognized. Notably, he was one of the pioneers of the legal technique of arousing jury sympathy in tort cases. In one instance, he successfully won a record judgement of $22,500 for a badly injured widow, the most ever awarded to a plaintiff at the time.[1]
Along with his colleague and close associate Daniel Webster, he is also regarded as one of the greatest orators of his age. Among his most famous orations are his Address on The Colonial Age of New England delivered at the centennial celebration of the settlement of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1831 and his Address on The Age of the Pilgrims as the Heroic Period of Our History before the New England Society of New York in 1843. Through these addresses, Choate became one of the most prominent advocates of promoting the Puritan settlers as the first founders of the American republic.
A staunch nationalist and unionist, Choate was among several former Whigs to oppose the Republican Party over concerns that it was a "sectional party" whose platform threatened to separate the Union. In turn, he publicly voiced his support for Democratic candidate James Buchanan over Republican John C. Frémont in the 1856 presidential election.
- ^ Howe, Daniel Walker (1979). The Political Culture of the American Whigs. The University of Chicago Press. p. 225.