Amos Kendall
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Amos Kendall
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| In office May 1, 1835 – May, 1840 |
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| President | Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren |
| Preceded by | William T. Barry |
| Succeeded by | John Milton Niles |
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| Born | August 16, 1789 Dunstable, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 12, 1869 (aged 80) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Profession | Politician |
Amos Kendall (August 16, 1789 – November 12, 1869) was an American politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Many historians regard Kendall as the intellectual force behind Andrew Jackson's presidential administration, and an influential figure in the transformation of America from an agrarian republic to a capitalist democracy. In 1857, Kendall's philanthropy founded the school in Washington, D.C. that later expanded and became Gallaudet University for the deaf.
Kendall completed his secondary studies at Lawrence Academy at Groton, class of 1807, and his collegiate studies at Dartmouth College. Prior to becoming Postmaster General, Kendall was editor of both the Argus of Western America, the organ of Kentucky progressivism, and the Washington Globe, the organ for the Jackson Administration. He worked closely with Van Buren, Francis P. Blair, and other members of Jackson's official and kitchen cabinets. John Quincy Adams, a bitter foe of both Jackson and Van Buren, confided to his diary in December 1840 that he believed both men had been "for twelve years the tool of Amos Kendall, the ruling mind of their dominion."[1] Kendall tutored the children of Henry Clay, who was a political enemy of Jackson, and was nursed back to health after a grave illness by Clay's wife, Lucretia.[citation needed] In 1862, Kendell helped found Calvary Baptist Church.
At the time of his death in 1869, Kendall was the last surviving member of the Jackson and Van Buren Cabinets.
Kendall County, Illinois, and Kendall, New York, are named in Kendall's honor.
[edit] References
- ^ Charles Francis Adams, ed., Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848 (New York: AMS Press, 1970 [1874-77]), Vol. 10, 366
[edit] Bibliography
- "Life of Andrew Jackson, Private, Military, and Civil" (New York, 1843, uncompleted)
- "Full Exposure of Dr. Charles T. Jackson's Pretensions to the Invention of the American Electro-magnetic Telegraph," which was republished with prefatory remarks by Professor Samuel F. B. Morse (Paris, 1867).
- Posthumous autobiography, edited by William Stickney (Boston, 1872)
- Kendall, Amos. Address at Inauguration of Gallaudet University, 1864.
- Kendall, Amos. Address at First Commencement of Gallaudet University, 1869.
[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by William T. Barry |
United States Postmaster General 1835 – 1840 |
Succeeded by John M. Niles |
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