Immiogrant of the Day: Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (Switzerland)

Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (1761–1849) was a politician, diplomat, Congressman, and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He was also a founder of New York University.

Born in Switzerland, Gallatin immigrated to America in the 1780s, ultimately settling in Pennsylvania. He was politically active against the Federalist Party, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1793, but was removed from office after a protest raised by his opponents suggested he had fewer than the required nine years of citizenship. In 1795, Gallatin was elected to the House of Representatives and served in the fourth through sixth Congresses, becoming House Majority Leader. He helped found the House Committee on Finance (later the Ways and Means Committee).

When Thomas Jefferson became President, Gallatin was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Gallatin served in that post for thirteen years, the longest term in history for that office. During the first part of his tenure, he made great progress in balancing the federal budget. The U.S. was able to make the Louisiana Purchase without a tax increase in large part due to Gallatin's efforts.

Gallatin resigned as Secretary of the Treasury to head the United States delegation for negotiations in France and was instrumental in the securing of the Treaty of Ghent, which brought the War of 1812 to a close.

At war's end, Gallatin, preferring to remain in France, was appointed United States Minister to that country and held that post for another seven years. He returned to America in 1823.

In 1849, Gallatin died in what is now the Borough of Queens, New York.

KJ