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He was born on March 2, 1779 in Charlestown (Charleston), South Carolina, United States, the son of Dr. Elisha Poinsett, a prominent physician, and Ann (Roberts) Poinsett, an English lady and a relative both of the principal of St. Paul's School (London) and of John Dollond, inventor of the achromatic telescope. On the paternal side he was descended from Peter Poinsett, a Huguenot, who emigrated from Soubise, France, near La Rochelle, to Charlestown about 1700.
He received his earliest education at the side of his father and under the tuition of the Rev. J. H. Thompson. In 1794 he was sent to the academy of Timothy Dwight, later president of Yale, which was located at Greenfield Hill, Connecticut In 1796 he began his studies abroad, at St. Paul's School, at the medical school in Edinburgh, and under a former teacher in a military academy at Woolwich. His interests centered mainly in the languages, several of which he learned to read and speak fluently, and in natural and military science.
Natural inclination led him to prefer the life of a soldier, but his father objected and called him home (1800) to study law under H. W. De Saussure, who subsequently became chancellor of South Carolina. Law was not suited to his taste.
When war between Great Britain and the United States appeared to be approaching in 1808, he hastened to his native land in the hope of securing a high military appointment. Failing in this, he accepted in 1810 the post of special agent in Rio de la Plata and Chile. Setting sail late in 1810, he proceeded by way of Rio de Janeiro, and early in 1811 reached the mouth of the Plate, in the guise of an Englishman. In Buenos Aires he soon began to encourage a movement for independence from Spain. He also negotiated a commercial agreement with the authorities of Rio de la Plata before setting out for Chile, where he was officially received by the provisional government on February 24, 1812. He remained in Chile until April 1814, although he doubtless would have preferred to be employed in the army of his native land, which was at that time engaged in a war with Great Britain.
While in Chile, Poinsett became the ardent friend of the Carrera brothers and other patriots who were directing the movement for independence from Spain, following their armies, reconciling their personal differences, and giving them political and military advice. The overthrow of the Carreras, the precarious state of the Chilean insurgents, and the hostile influence of the British, made it necessary for him to leave the country.
He returned to Buenos Aires, where he remained until the middle of September 1814; he then set out for the United States, making his way home via the Madeira Islands. In May 1815, he finally reached Charleston. He did not forget his Chilean friends, however, for during most of the following year he was in correspondence with José Miguel Carrera, who had come to the United States in search of aid for the revolutionary movement.
Moreover, in the spring of 1817 President Monroe tendered him an appointment as a special commissioner to southern South America. This appointment Poinsett considered it best to decline. Poinsett had now become interested in South Carolina politics. Late in 1816 he had been elected as a member of the legislature and in 1818 he was reelected. His services to his native state during this period were related mainly to the movement for internal improvements - the dredging of rivers and the construction of roads. For two years, 1818-20, he was chairman of the Board of Public Works, under the supervision of which parts of several rivers were improved for navigation and the Saluda Mountain road and the road from Charleston to Columbia were constructed. Moreover, at his own private expense he developed Poinsett Springs, in the heart of the Saluda Mountain.
In 1821 he succeeded Charles Pinckney in the federal House of Representatives, taking his seat on December 3, 1821, and continuing his services until March 7, 1825. As a member of Congress Poinsett was not conspicuous. The election of 1824 was decided by the House of Representatives, and Poinsett cast his vote for Andrew Jackson.
His career in Congress was interrupted for a brief period, August 1822-January 1823, by a special mission to Mexico. He passed by Cuba on his return and reported to President Monroe on the conditions in that island as well as in Mexico. In 1824 he published Notes on Mexico. Probably because he was so well acquainted with Spanish-American affairs, he was appointed (March 1825) as the first American minister to Mexico, although not until this post had been offered to others who possessed greater political influence. His diplomatic services in Mexico extended over a period of nearly four years, which were not altogether happy.
Returning to Washington, he found his friend President Jackson considerably worried over the threats of South Carolinians to nullify the tariff act of 1828. A few months later he proceeded to Charleston and soon became the leader of the Unionist party of South Carolina. For the next three years he was in the midst of a bitter struggle which required on his part consummate courage and organizing ability of the highest type. He was largely responsible for the organization of militia to defend the Unionist cause, arms and munitions being placed at his disposal by Jackson, though he sought a peaceful settlement.
He retired to a plantation near Georgetown, where he enjoyed the cultivation of his fields, and the reading of his books. In 1837 President Van Buren called him from his happy retirement to become secretary of war, and he served as such during the whole of this administration. In 1841 he again retired to his South Carolina plantation. Although he took no further part in politics.
He died near Statesburg, Sumter County.
Joel Roberts Poinsett was the first United States agent in South America, the first United States Minister to Mexico. He was in charge of the U. S. War Department, he improved the status of the regular army, proposed a plan for universal military training and frontier defense, organized a general staff and improved the artillery, added to the equipment and broadened the course of study at the West Point Military Academy, removed more than forty thousand Indians to territory west of the Mississippi River, directed the war against the Seminoles in Florida, and made a sincere effort to improve the schools devoted to the education of the natives. Besides, he was a co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts. Statue of Joel Poinsett was constructed by Zan Wells in 2001 and placed Greenville, South Carolina.
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Poinsett was a member of the prestigious society, the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences.
On October 24, 1833 he married Mrs. Mary (Izard) Pringle, the widow of his deceased friend John Julius Pringle.
