Edward Everett

Edward Everett
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835
Preceded byTimothy Fuller
Succeeded bySamuel Hoar
15th Governor of Massachusetts
In office
January 13, 1836 – January 18, 1840
LieutenantGeorge Hull
Preceded bySamuel Turell Armstrong (acting)
Succeeded byMarcus Morton
20th United States Secretary of State
In office
November 6, 1852 – March 3, 1853
PresidentMillard Fillmore
Preceded byDaniel Webster
Succeeded byWilliam L. Marcy
United States Senator
from Massachusetts
In office
March 4, 1853 – June 1, 1854
Preceded byJohn Davis
Succeeded byJulius Rockwell
Personal details
Born(1794-04-11)April 11, 1794
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedJanuary 15, 1865(1865-01-15) (aged 70)
Boston, Massachusetts
Political partyWhig
Spouse(s)Charlotte Gray Brooks
ChildrenAnne Gorham Everett
Charlotte Brooks Everett
Grace Webster Everett
Edward Brooks Everett
Henry Sidney Everett
William Everett
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationPolitician, educator

Edward Everett (April 11, 1794– January 15, 1865) was an American politician, religious leader and educator from Massachusetts. He was a Whig. He served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State. He also taught at Harvard University and was as president of Harvard. He was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860. He gave a long speech at Gettysburg right before Abraham Lincoln.

When Abraham Lincoln became president, the Civil War broke out. Everett had been calmer about slavery, but he was a strong Unionist. He worked hard to raise support for the Union through speaking in public. In November 1863, when the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was dedicated, Everett was the main speaker. His two-hour speech was before the much shorter, but now more famous Gettysburg Address by President Lincoln. Everett was moved by the short speech and wrote to Lincoln, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."[1]

References

  1. ↑ Simon, et al., eds. The Lincoln Forum: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, and the Civil War. Mason City: Savas Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 978-1-882810-37-6, p. 41

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