Edward Livingston, regarded as “the first legal genius of modern times,” was born in Clermont, New York in 1764, before the American Revolution. After graduating in 1781 from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Livingston studied law for four years before being admitted to the New York bar.
Livingston practiced law in New York City before serving three terms as Congressman from New York. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Livingston as United States Attorney for New York and several months later he was also appointed New York City’s Mayor. In 1803, during a yellow fever epidemic, Mayor Livingston remained on duty until he too contracted the disease. While recovering, Livingston learned that an employee embezzled a large sum of money. Livingston promptly resigned his positions, sold his property, and agreed to reimburse $100,000 to the U.S. government.
Seeking a way to repay this enormous debt, Livingston left his children with family and boarded a ship to New Orleans with $100 in his pocket and a $1,000 letter of credit. Livingston arrived in New Orleans in 1804, less than a year after the United States purchased Louisiana from France. Livingston’s fluency in French, as well as his studies in civil law, led to a successful law practice.
Despite the batture controversy, Livingston was still well-respected by many. In 1820, he successfully ran for the Louisiana Legislature representing Plaquemines Parish. The following year, the legislature selected Livingston to revise the Louisiana Civil Code and the Code of Procedure and to draft a criminal code and a commercial code, of which only the Civil Code and Code of Procedure were enacted.
In 1822, the same year that Livingston was appointed to draft the Codes, he was elected to Congress from the First District of Louisiana, serving until 1828. While a Congressman, Livingston settled his $100,000 debt to the United States incurred 23 years earlier. He was elected United States Senator from Louisiana in 1829.
President Andrew Jackson appointed Livingston to serve as his Secretary of State. After serving for two years, Jackson appointed Livingston to be his Minister to France, charged with enforcing the Treaty of 1831 in which France agreed to pay 25,000,000 francs to the United States for spoliation claims. After much negotiation, France refused to pay and Livingston resigned.
Livingston died in 1836 at his family home in New York. A memorial tablet at his family describes Livingston as “a man, for talents equaled by few, for virtues surpassed by none.”
Edward Livingston, by Anson Dickinson (1827). Image provided courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
