Background
Cushing, Caleb was born on January 17, 1800 in Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States. Son of John and Lydia (Dow) Cushing.
Diplomat attorney general United States
Cushing, Caleb was born on January 17, 1800 in Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States. Son of John and Lydia (Dow) Cushing.
Graduated from Harvard, 1817.
Admitted to Massachusetts bar, 1821. Member United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, 24th-27th congresses, 1835-1843. Special United States envoy to China, 1843-1845, negotiated Treaty of Wang Huja, July 3, 1844, which opened for trade 5 Chinese ports and limited American citizens to jurisdiction of America laws and officials.
Served as colonel, brigadier general in Mexican War, 1847. Attorney general United States, 1852-1857. Chairman commission to revise and codify statutes of the United States, 1865-1867.
United States diplomat to Bogota, Colombia, 1868. Senior counsel for United States before tribunal of arbitration Treaty of Washington, 1871-1872, negotiated settlement Alabama claims. United States minister to Spain, 1874-1877.
Author: History of the Town of Newburyport, 1826. The Practical Principles of Political Economy, 1826. Historical and Political Review of the Late Revolution in France, 2 vols., 1833.
Reminiscences of Spain, 2 vols., 1833. Growth and Territorial Progress of the United States, 1839. Life of William H. Harrison, 1840.
The Treaty of Washington, 1873.
Member United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts, 24th-27th congresses, 1835-1843.
Married Caroline Wilde, November 23, 1824.