Background
Information on By:
Judy C. Ware
William
Cabell Rives was born May 4, 1793 in Virginia and attended school at Hampden-Sidney
College and the College of William and Mary. He
Although
William Rives attended William & Mary, he was unfortunately expelled for an
“affair of honor” which according to one writer, “ruffled feathers but did
not escalate into a duel.” Upon the
recommendation of the President of William and Mary, Rt. Rev. James Madison, Rives became
the protégé of Thomas Jefferson and received training in both law and politics. He got his license to practice law in 1814, but
obtained a position as aide to General John H. Cocke when the War of 1812 threatened his
country.
The
political career of William C. Rives really took off in 1816. He eventually won election four times to the United
States Congress. He served from 1823 until his
resignation in 1829 when he accepted an appointment from President Andrew Jackson to be
Minister to France. Following his return in
1832, Rives
served all (or part of) three terms in the United States Senate before accepting
reappointment as Minister to France under Presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore,
from 1849-1853. Rives was a big supporter of
Henry Clay. The letter he wrote to Josiah was
written during his time in the Senate. References: Raymond
C. Dingledine, "The Political Career of William C. Rives" (1947) Dictionary
of American Biography;
McCoy, Drew R. “Legacy: The Strange Career of William Cabell Rives.” In The
Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy, pp. 323-69. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1989; Wingfield, Russell S. “William Cabell Rives.”
Richmond College Historical Papers 1 (June 1915): 57-72. |
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