Hugh Lawson White (October 30, 1773April 10, 1840) was an American politician and judge. After filling in several posts particularly in Tennessee's judiciary and state legislature since 1801, thereunder as a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, he was chosen to succeed Andrew Jackson in the United States Senate in 1825. He became a member of the new Democratic Party, supporting Jackson's policies and his future presidential administration. However, he left the Democrats in 1836 and was a Whig candidate in that year's presidential election.

An ardent strict constructionist and lifelong states' rights advocate, White was one of President Jackson's most trusted allies in Congress in the late 1820s and early 1830s. White fought against the national bank, tariffs, and the use of federal funds for internal improvements, In 1786, he constructed White's Fort, which would eventually develop into Knoxville, Tennessee. and White's granddaughter and biographer, Nancy Scott, stated that White fired the fatal shot.

In 1812, White was named president of the Knoxville branch of the Bank of Tennessee.

In 1821, President James Monroe appointed White to a commission to settle claims against Spain, following the Adams-Onís Treaty in which that nation sold Florida to the United States. he opposed federal intervention into the issue of slavery.

1836 presidential election

Toward the end of Jackson's first term, a rift developed between White and Jackson. In 1831, as Jackson reshuffled his cabinet in the aftermath of the Petticoat affair, White was offered the office of Secretary of War but turned it down.

Later career

By 1837, the relationship between White and Jackson had turned hostile. Jackson was outraged when he learned that White had accused his administration of committing outright fraud, and stated in a letter to Adam Huntsman that White had a "lax code of morals."

Personality and style

White believed strongly in the principles of strict constructionism and a limited federal government and voted against fellow Jacksonians if he felt their initiatives ran counter to these principles. His independent nature and his stern rectitude earned him the appellation "The Cato of the United States." His congressional colleague, Henry Wise, later wrote that White's "patriotism and firmness" as the Senate's president pro tempore was key to resolving the Nullification Crisis.

White's farm lay just west of Second Creek in Knoxville. In the late 19th century, this became a land development area known as "White's Addition." The area is now part of the University of Tennessee campus and the Fort Sanders neighborhood.

References

Further reading

  • A memoir of Hugh Lawson White – a biography of White written by his granddaughter, Nancy Scott

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