Tobias Lear | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Private Secretary to the President | |
| In office April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 | |
| President | George Washington |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | William Smith Shaw |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 19, 1762 Portsmouth, Province of New Hampshire, British America |
| Died | October 11, 1816 (aged 54) Georgetown, Washington, D.C., United States |
| Resting place | Congressional Cemetery |
| Spouses | Mary Long
(m. 1790; died 1793)Frances Bassett Washington
(m. 1795; died 1796)Frances Dandridge Henley
(m. 1803) |
| Education | Dummer Charity School Harvard College |
| Occupation | Diplomat Secretary |
| Known for | Personal secretary to George Washington |
Tobias Lear (September 19, 1762 – October 11, 1816) was the personal secretary to President George Washington. Lear served Washington from 1784 until the former-President's death in 1799. Lear's journal details Washington's final moments and his last words: 'Tis well.
Tobias Lear also served third president Thomas Jefferson, as envoy to Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti), and as peace envoy in the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa during the First Barbary War (1801–1805) and the Second Barbary War (1815). He was responsible for negotiating a peace treaty with the Bey of Tripoli that ended the first Barbary War.