Isaac Toucey

Isaac Toucey
20th United States Attorney General
In office June 21, 1848 – March 4, 1849
President	James K. Polk
Preceded by	Nathan Clifford
Succeeded by	Reverdy Johnson
23rd United States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 7, 1857 – March 4, 1861
Preceded by	James C. Dobbin
Succeeded by	Gideon Welles
Personal details
Born	November 15, 1792(1792-11-15) Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	July 30, 1869(1869-07-30) (aged 76) Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Catherine Nichols Toucey
Profession	Lawyer, Politician

Isaac Toucey (November 15, 1792 – July 30, 1869) was an American statesman who served as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney General of the United States and the 33rd Governor of Connecticut.

President Buchanan and his Cabinet
From left to right: Jacob Thompson, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, James Buchanan, Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black, (c. 1859)

Born in Newtown, Connecticut, Toucey studied law and was admitted to the bar at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1818. He began practicing and in 1822 was named prosecuting attorney of Hartford County, Connecticut. He served in that position until 1835, when he was elected to the 24th and 25th Congresses (at-large and then representing the 1st District). He lost the election of 1838 and returned to his position as prosecuting attorney in 1842. He ran for Governor in 1845, and lost, but the Connecticut State Legislature appointed him to the position in 1846; he was defeated in an attempt at re-election.

In 1848, President of the United States James K. Polk appointed him the 20th Attorney General of the United States, a position he held until 1849. He returned to Connecticut and took a place in the Connecticut Senate in 1850, and then in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1852.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate for the term commencing March 4, 1851, and served from May 12, 1852, to March 3, 1857, having that year declined to be a candidate for reelection. During that time, Toucey often served as the legislative point man for Franklin Pierce and his administration.

James Buchanan, who Toucey had served with in the Polk administration, appointed him U.S. Secretary of the Navy in his Cabinet in 1857 as a sop to the Pierce faction as well as to represent New England in the Cabinet. A moderate Northerner much in line with Buchanan's thought in the sectional controversies of the day, Toucey held that post until 1861 and the arrival of the Abraham Lincoln administration. Toucey was then replaced by one of his chief rivals in Connecticut, Gideon Welles. After 1861 he returned to the law, and died in Hartford in 1869.

USS Toucey (DD-282) was named for him.

He is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut.

References

• Isaac Toucey at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• Connecticut State Library: Isaac Toucey, Governor of Connecticut from 1846 to 1847

Political offices
Preceded by Roger Sherman Baldwin	Governor of Connecticut 1846–1847	Succeeded by Clark Bissell
Legal offices
Preceded by Nathan Clifford	United States Attorney General Served under: James K. Polk 1848–1849	Succeeded by Reverdy Johnson
United States Senate
Preceded by Roger S. Baldwin	United States Senator (Class 1) from Connecticut 1852–1857 Served alongside: Truman Smith, Francis Gillette and Lafayette S. Foster	Succeeded by James Dixon
Government offices
Preceded by James C. Dobbin	United States Secretary of the Navy 1857–1861	Succeeded by Gideon Welles