Wayne MacVeagh

Isaac Wayne MacVeagh
36th United States Attorney General
In office March 5, 1881 – December 15, 1881
President	James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur
Preceded by	Charles Devens
Succeeded by	Benjamin H. Brewster
United States Ambassador to Italy
In office March 11, 1894 – March 4, 1897
President	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	William Potter
Succeeded by	William F. Draper
United States Ambassador to Turkey
In office October 25, 1870 – June 10, 1871
President	Ulysses S. Grant
Preceded by	Edward J. Morris
Succeeded by	George H. Boker
Personal details
Born	(1833-04-19)April 19, 1833 Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 11, 1917(1917-01-11) (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Church of the Redeemer Cemetery, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican, Democratic
Spouse(s)	Letitia Lewis MacVeagh (1st wife) Virginia Cameron MacVeagh (2nd wife)
Relations	Franklin MacVeagh (Banker)
Children	Charles MacVeagh (U.S. Ambassador to Japan)
Parent(s)	Major John MacVeagh Margaret Lincoln MacVeagh
Alma mater	Yale University
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Military service
Branch/service	Militia Union Army
Years of service	1862–1863
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Isaac Wayne MacVeagh (April 19, 1833 – January 11, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. He served as the 36th Attorney General of the United States under the administrations of Presidents James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.

Biography

MacVeagh was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, on April 19, 1833, the son of Major John MacVeagh and Margaret (née Lincoln) MacVeagh. His brother, Franklin MacVeagh, was a banker and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President William Howard Taft.

He attended Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter), and graduated tenth in his class in 1853. He was admitted to the bar in 1856, and was the District Attorney of Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1859 through 1864. He led the militia forces organized to battle back the threatened Confederate invaders from 1862 to 1863, and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War as an infantry captain and as a major in the cavalry.

He became a leader in the Republican Party and was the prominent opponent of his father-in-law, Simon Cameron, in the fight within the party in 1871. MacVeagh was the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1870 through 1871, and was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1872 and 1873.

In 1875, MacVeagh co-founded the Philadelphia-based law firm known today as Dechert LLP. He also served as Chairman of the MacVeagh Commission, sent in 1877 by President Rutherford B. Hayes to Louisiana, which secured the settlement of the contest between two existing state governments and thus made possible the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the state.

MacVeagh served as the 36th Attorney General in 1881 under President James A. Garfield. He resigned after President Garfield's assassination. Chester Arthur was to be 21st President and MacVeagh served as a cabinet member.

In 1892, he supported Grover Cleveland, the Democratic nominee for the presidency, and from 1893 to 1897 he served as Ambassador to Italy. He returned to the Republican Party in 1896. In 1903, he was an chief counsel of the United States before the Hague tribunal in the case regarding the claims of Germany, Britain and Italy against the republic of Venezuela.

Personal life

MacVeagh married Letitia Miner Lewis, in 1856. They had one son, Charles MacVeagh (June 6, 1860 – December 4, 1931), who became the Ambassador to Japan.

In 1866, after his first wife's death, he married the former Virginia Rolette Cameron, a daughter of U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron.

MacVeagh died in Washington, D.C., on January 11, 1917. He was buried at the Church of the Redeemer Cemetery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

See also

• Charles MacVeagh

External links

• The MacVeagh Family Papers, including papers, notes, newspaper clippings and correspondence spanning much of Wayne MacVeagh's life, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15611773