Secretaries of State: Frederick Frelinghuysen
When Chester A. Arthur became President in September of 1881 following the death of James Garfield, many people assumed the worst. While Garfield was a moderate and a man who seemed to be above factional politics, Arthur was the product of machine politics. He was "a Stalwart", a member of the faction of the Republican Party led by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. The Stalwarts believed in the spoils system. As the saying went, "to the victor goes the spoils", and the Stalwarts believed that whoever was victorious in politics had the right to dole out patronage and government offices and jobs, not based on merit, but rather as rewards to political friends.
Garfield's Secretary of State was James G. Blaine, the leader of the "Half-Breeds", the factional opponents of the Stalwarts in the Republican Party. Blaine could not abide the notion of serving under a Stalwart president and in December of 1881 he resigned his office. As things turned out, Arthur was a much better president than many had anticipated. But at the start of his presidency, many feared the worst when Arthur chose to fill Blaine's vacancy with another Stalwart, Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.
Frelinghuysen was born on August 4, 1817 in Millstone, New Jersey. His father, also named Frederick Frelinghuysen, died when the future Secretary of State was just three years old. He was adopted and raised by his uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen. His grandfather, another Frederick Frelinghuysen, had been one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and from 1793 to 1796 a member of the United States Senate. His uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen, was Attorney General of New Jersey from 1817 to 1829, and was also a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835, and also the Whig candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Henry Clay ticket in the 1844 Presidential election.
Frelinghuysen graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and studied law in Newark with his uncle He was admitted to the bar in 1839, and he later became attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking Company and other corporations. He married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold and had three daughters and three sons. His great-grandson was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (who was Richard Nixon's running mate in 1960).
Frelinghuysen was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention from New Jersey and from 1861 to 1867 was Attorney General of New Jersey. In 1861 he was a delegate to the Peace conference in Washington, chaired by former President John Tyler, the conference that unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the Civil War. In 1866 he was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. In the winter of 1867, he was elected to fill the unexpired term, but a Democratic majority in the New Jersey Legislature prevented his re-election in 1869. While in the senate on this occasion he was a strong opponent of the Reconstruction measures of President Andrew Johnson. During Johnson's impeachment trial, Frelinghuysen voted for conviction.
In 1870, he was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant, and confirmed by the Senate, as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. However he decided to decline the appointment.
He returned to the US Senate from 1871 to 1877, where he was prominent in debate and in committee work, and served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He held that position during the Alabama Claims negotiations. He was also a member of the joint committee which in early 1877 drew up and reported the Electoral Commission Bill, and he subsequently served as a member of the Electoral Commission that decided the 1876 Presidential election. As a Republican, he voted with the eight-member majority on all counts.
On December 12, 1881, he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur to succeed James G. Blaine. He held that position for the remainder of Arthur's term. During the Garfield administration, Secretary of State James G. Blaine attempted to have the United States become more active diplomatically in Latin America. Blaine pressed for reciprocal trade agreements and offered to mediate disputes among the Latin American nations. Blaine, had proposed a Pan-American conference in 1882 to discuss trade and an end to the War of the Pacific being fought by Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. When Frelinghuysen replaced Blaine at the end of 1881, there was no effort to proceed with the conference. Frelinghuysen also discontinued Blaine's peace efforts in the War of the Pacific. He was concerned that doing so might draw the United States into the conflict.
Arthur and Frelinghuysen continued Blaine's efforts to encourage trade among the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Frelinhuysen negotiated a treaty with Mexico providing for reciprocal tariff reductions in 1882. The treaty was approved by the Senate in 1884. But legislation required to bring the treaty into force failed in the House. Similar efforts at reciprocal trade treaties with Santo Domingo and Spain's American colonies were defeated by February 1885, and an existing reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii was allowed to lapse.
In July 1882 Congress passed legislation that Arthur signed in August of 1882 which levied a 50-cent tax on immigrants to the United States, and excluded from entry the mentally ill, the intellectually disabled, criminals, or any other person potentially dependent upon public assistance.
Previously, in January 1868, the Senate had ratified the Burlingame Treaty with China, allowing an unrestricted flow of Chinese workers into the country. As the economy soured after the Panic of 1873, Chinese immigrants were blamed for low wages for laborers. In 1879 Congress tried to avoid the 1868 treaty by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, but President Hayes vetoed it. Three years later in 1882, after China had agreed to treaty revisions, Congress tried again to exclude Chinese immigrants. California Senator John F. Miller introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that denied Chinese immigrants United States citizenship and banned their immigration for a twenty-year period. The bill passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins, but this as well was vetoed by Arthur. The rational was that the 20-year ban was in breach of the renegotiated treaty of 1880. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration. Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. Congress was unable to override the veto, but passed a new bill reducing the immigration ban to ten years. Arthur and Frelinghuysen objected to this denial of citizenship to Chinese immigrants, but Arthur ultimately accepted the compromise, signing the Chinese Exclusion Act into law on May 6, 1882.
After his term as Secretary of State Frelinghuysen returned to his home in Newark. He died there on May 20, 1885, aged 67, less than three months after retiring. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark.
Garfield's Secretary of State was James G. Blaine, the leader of the "Half-Breeds", the factional opponents of the Stalwarts in the Republican Party. Blaine could not abide the notion of serving under a Stalwart president and in December of 1881 he resigned his office. As things turned out, Arthur was a much better president than many had anticipated. But at the start of his presidency, many feared the worst when Arthur chose to fill Blaine's vacancy with another Stalwart, Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.
Frelinghuysen was born on August 4, 1817 in Millstone, New Jersey. His father, also named Frederick Frelinghuysen, died when the future Secretary of State was just three years old. He was adopted and raised by his uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen. His grandfather, another Frederick Frelinghuysen, had been one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and from 1793 to 1796 a member of the United States Senate. His uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen, was Attorney General of New Jersey from 1817 to 1829, and was also a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835, and also the Whig candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Henry Clay ticket in the 1844 Presidential election.
Frelinghuysen graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and studied law in Newark with his uncle He was admitted to the bar in 1839, and he later became attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking Company and other corporations. He married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold and had three daughters and three sons. His great-grandson was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (who was Richard Nixon's running mate in 1960).
Frelinghuysen was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention from New Jersey and from 1861 to 1867 was Attorney General of New Jersey. In 1861 he was a delegate to the Peace conference in Washington, chaired by former President John Tyler, the conference that unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the Civil War. In 1866 he was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. In the winter of 1867, he was elected to fill the unexpired term, but a Democratic majority in the New Jersey Legislature prevented his re-election in 1869. While in the senate on this occasion he was a strong opponent of the Reconstruction measures of President Andrew Johnson. During Johnson's impeachment trial, Frelinghuysen voted for conviction.
In 1870, he was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant, and confirmed by the Senate, as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. However he decided to decline the appointment.
He returned to the US Senate from 1871 to 1877, where he was prominent in debate and in committee work, and served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. He held that position during the Alabama Claims negotiations. He was also a member of the joint committee which in early 1877 drew up and reported the Electoral Commission Bill, and he subsequently served as a member of the Electoral Commission that decided the 1876 Presidential election. As a Republican, he voted with the eight-member majority on all counts.
On December 12, 1881, he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur to succeed James G. Blaine. He held that position for the remainder of Arthur's term. During the Garfield administration, Secretary of State James G. Blaine attempted to have the United States become more active diplomatically in Latin America. Blaine pressed for reciprocal trade agreements and offered to mediate disputes among the Latin American nations. Blaine, had proposed a Pan-American conference in 1882 to discuss trade and an end to the War of the Pacific being fought by Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. When Frelinghuysen replaced Blaine at the end of 1881, there was no effort to proceed with the conference. Frelinghuysen also discontinued Blaine's peace efforts in the War of the Pacific. He was concerned that doing so might draw the United States into the conflict.
Arthur and Frelinghuysen continued Blaine's efforts to encourage trade among the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Frelinhuysen negotiated a treaty with Mexico providing for reciprocal tariff reductions in 1882. The treaty was approved by the Senate in 1884. But legislation required to bring the treaty into force failed in the House. Similar efforts at reciprocal trade treaties with Santo Domingo and Spain's American colonies were defeated by February 1885, and an existing reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii was allowed to lapse.
In July 1882 Congress passed legislation that Arthur signed in August of 1882 which levied a 50-cent tax on immigrants to the United States, and excluded from entry the mentally ill, the intellectually disabled, criminals, or any other person potentially dependent upon public assistance.
Previously, in January 1868, the Senate had ratified the Burlingame Treaty with China, allowing an unrestricted flow of Chinese workers into the country. As the economy soured after the Panic of 1873, Chinese immigrants were blamed for low wages for laborers. In 1879 Congress tried to avoid the 1868 treaty by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, but President Hayes vetoed it. Three years later in 1882, after China had agreed to treaty revisions, Congress tried again to exclude Chinese immigrants. California Senator John F. Miller introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that denied Chinese immigrants United States citizenship and banned their immigration for a twenty-year period. The bill passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins, but this as well was vetoed by Arthur. The rational was that the 20-year ban was in breach of the renegotiated treaty of 1880. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration. Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. Congress was unable to override the veto, but passed a new bill reducing the immigration ban to ten years. Arthur and Frelinghuysen objected to this denial of citizenship to Chinese immigrants, but Arthur ultimately accepted the compromise, signing the Chinese Exclusion Act into law on May 6, 1882.
After his term as Secretary of State Frelinghuysen returned to his home in Newark. He died there on May 20, 1885, aged 67, less than three months after retiring. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark.