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Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (February 21, 1816 – January 31, 1895) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist from Massachusetts. He served as U.S. Attorney General from 1869 to 1870, and was the first head of the newly created Department of Justice. Hoar assisted President Ulysses S. Grant in appointing two United States Supreme Court justices and was himself nominated to the Court. His nomination was rejected by the United States Senate, in part for his positions on patronage reform. In 1871, Hoar was appointed by Grant to the United States high commission that negotiated the Treaty of Washington between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, helping to settle the Alabama Claims. Early life and legal career Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on February 21, 1816, to Samuel and Sarah Hoar (née Sherman). Hoar came from a long line of Puritan ancestry. His family had emigrated to America in 1640, initially settling in Braintree, Massachusetts. Hoar was sent to a religious private female teacher at the early age of two. By the age of three, Hoar was able to read the Bible fluently as an adult. By four, Hoar was fully literate, having surpassed his older sister in reading and writing. As Hoar grew up he was known for quick thinking and witty sayings. In 1831, Hoar entered Harvard University at the age of fifteen. Upon graduation in 1835, he moved West and served as an instructor at a school for girls in Pittsburgh. After teaching, he traveled to Kentucky and heard the famous politician Henry Clay speak, then returned to Concord to study law at his father's office. In 1837, Hoar returned to Harvard where he studied law for eighteen months and for six months in the law office of Emory Washburn. On September 30, 1839, he passed the bar and had received a LL.B. degree from Harvard, where upon he practiced law in 1840 in Concord and Boston. Massachusetts politics In the 1840s, Hoar began his political career as an anti-slavery member of the Whig Party. Hoar stated that he was a Conscience Whig rather than a Cotton Whig, who represented the Massachusetts textile interests and the Southern cotton industry. In 1846, Hoar was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. In 1848, Hoar worked with his father to form the Free Soil Party of Massachusetts. The new party opposed the extension of slavery in the Western territories. In 1849, Hoar was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Boston and served until 1855. In 1859, Hoar was appointed as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. While on the bench Judge Hoar was known for his critiquing of younger lawyers; one of those who impressed Hoar was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. After the American Civil War, Hoar opposed the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Attorney General (1869–1870) On March 5, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Hoar the 30th Attorney General of the United States. All of Grant's appointments, including Hoar, were initially a shock to the Senate, since Grant chose his cabinet independently from leaders of the Republican Party. The Senate immediately approved all of Grant's appointments, and press reaction was generally optimistic, applauding Grant's cabinet as one free from "trickery and corruption." Hoar served as Grant's principal legal and political advisor, since Grant had never held public elected office until his election to the presidency. In July 1870, Hoar became the first attorney general to head the Department of Justice, created to strengthen the enforcement and investigation powers of the President. Boutwell appointment One of Hoar's first duties as Attorney General was to rule on the appointment of New York businessman Alexander T. Stewart as Secretary of the Treasury. Stewart was opposed by Senators Charles Sumner and Roscoe Conkling, who cited a 1789 law prohibiting any Secretary who was "concerned or interested in carrying on the business of trade or commerce." Stewart had proposed he renounce his legal title to any retail business until after his potential term ended. However, Hoar advised Grant that Stewart's plan was legally impractical. Taking Hoar's advice, Grant instead appointed George S. Boutwell as Secretary of the Treasury. Boutwell's appointment, however, made Hoar's continuance in Grant's Cabinet tenuous, since both Boutwell and Hoar were from Massachusetts during an era in which it was traditional and politically expedient to have no more than one presidential cabinet member from any single state. Supreme Court nomination and rejection On December 14, 1869, President Grant nominated Hoar to the associate justice seat on the United States Supreme Court created by the Judiciary Act of 1869. The nomination engendered much controversy. As Attorney General, Hoar had alienated senators by not consulting them before recommending to the president nominees for circuit judge. In addition, senators were indignant about Hoar's positions on patronage reform and about his previous opposition to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. The nomination was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which recommended against confirmation. On February 3, 1870, the Senate rejected Hoar 24-33 in a roll call vote. Grant had an additional associate justice to fill in December 1869, when Robert C. Grier retired. Grant nominated Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to succeed Grier. Stanton was swiftly confirmed, but died soon thereafter before he took office. On Hoar's advice, Grant nominated William Strong and Joseph P. Bradley to fill the twin vacancies. Both were easily confirmed. Hepburn v. Griswold One hour after both Strong and Bradley were submitted to the Senate, the Supreme Court ruled in Hepburn v. Griswold that the 1862 Legal Tender Act that had authorized the Treasury to print paper money as legal tender was unconstitutional. President Grant, Hoar, and his entire cabinet had been against the Court's 4–3 Hepburn ruling, believing that the nation's money supply would be reduced and that this would ruin the economy. On March 31, 1870, Hoar went before the Supreme Court and argued that the Hepburn decision caused instability in the national economy, in case the country needed to print money during an emergency, as had been done during the American Civil War. One year later, with justices Strong and Bradley on the bench, the Court reversed the Hepburn ruling in a 5–4 decision, making paper money legal tender. Although President Grant and Hoar were accused of packing the Court, Strong and Smith's names had been submitted to the Senate prior to the Hepburn decision. Reconstruction Hoar was a moderate Republican who opposed federal intervention in protecting African American citizens during Reconstruction. Hoar believed that Southerners would behave responsibly and find a way to protect African Americans. President Grant, however, had lost faith in the Southerners to comply with constitutional and federal law that protected African Americans. In May .... Discover the Sarah Rockwood popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sarah Rockwood books.