Samuel Dexter

Samuel Dexter (May 14, 1761 – May 4, 1816) was an early American statesman who served both in
Congress and in the Presidential Cabinets of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Early life and education

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Samuel Dexter, a Massachusetts politician, he was the grandson Samuel
Dexter, the fourth minister of Dedham. he graduated from Harvard University in 1781 and then studied law
at Worcester under Levi Lincoln Sr., the future Attorney General of the United States. After he passed the
bar in 1784, he began practicing in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.

Congressional career
He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served from 1788 to 1790. He was
elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Federalist and served in the 3rd
Congress (March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795). He served in the United States Senate from March 4, 1799, to
May 30, 1800 (the 6th Congress).
During a House discussion on a Naturalization Bill in 1795, Virginia Representative William Branch
Giles controversially suggested that all immigrants be forced to take an oath renouncing any titles of
nobility they previously held. Dexter responded by questioning why Catholics were not required to
denounce allegiance to the Pope, because priest craft had initiated more problems throughout history than
aristocracy. Dexter's points caused an infuriated James Madison to defend American Catholics, many of
whom, such as Charles Carroll of Carrollton, had been good citizens during the American Revolution, and
to point out that hereditary titles were barred under the Constitution in any event.
In December 1799, he wrote the Senate eulogy for George Washington. Dexter served in the Senate for
less than a year, and resigned in order to accept his appointment as United States Secretary of War in the
administration of President John Adams.