Hamilton Fish
American politician (1808-1893) · United States · On the map · Politicians · Died at 85
Hamilton Fish was an American statesman who served as the sixteenth governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States senator from New York from 1851 to 1857, and the 26th U.S. secretary of state from 1869 to 1877.
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U.S. Representative Fish depicted in an 1844 illustration
Fish's portrait as New York governor
Fish as U.S. Senator
Winfield Scott and Fish dined regularly in New York during the onset of the American Civil War.
President Ulysses S. Grant was determined to annex Santo Domingo
An 1871 portrait, Brady, depicting the American High Commissioners meeting in Washington D.C., with Fish as chairman
Caricature of Hamilton Fish in Vanity Fair in 1872About this person
Fish was the most trusted advisor to President Ulysses S. Grant and recognized as the pillar of Grant's presidency. He is considered one of the nation's most effective U.S. secretaries of state by scholars, known for his judiciousness and efforts towards reform and diplomatic moderation. He settled the controversial Alabama Claims with the United Kingdom, developing the concept of international arbitration and avoided war with Spain over Cuban independence by coolly handling the volatile Virginius incident. He also organized a peace conference and treaty between South American countries and Spain. In 1875, Fish negotiated a reciprocal trade treaty for sugar production with the Kingdom of Hawai'i, initiating the process which ended in the 1893 overthrow of the House of Kalākaua and statehood. Fish worked with James Milton Turner to settle the Liberia-Grebo War in 1876.
