Joel Roberts Poinsett

Joel Roberts Poinsett was an American medical doctor, botanist, politician, and diplomat. He was the first U.S. agent in Hispanic America, a member of the South Carolina Legislature, and later a United States Representative from 1821 to 1825. In 1825, he was appointed by John Quincy Adams as the first United States Minister to Mexico, replacing envoy James Wilkinson, and serving through the first year of Andrew Jackson's administration in 1829. He represented the United States government to the First Mexican Empire, the Provisional Government, and the First Mexican Republic in Mexico City.