author
Albert Gallatin
1761–1849
Best known as Thomas Jefferson’s longtime treasury secretary, he helped bring order to the young nation’s finances while also playing a major role in diplomacy after the War of 1812. Born in Geneva and later active in New York intellectual life, he moved easily between politics, public finance, and scholarship.
2 Audiobooks
The Oregon Question
by Albert Gallatin
Peace with Mexico
by Albert Gallatin
About the author
Born in Geneva on January 29, 1761, Albert Gallatin came to America as a young man and built an unusually wide-ranging career in public life. He served in Congress before becoming U.S. secretary of the Treasury in 1801, a post he held for more than a decade under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Gallatin became known for careful financial management, including efforts to reduce the national debt, and he helped the government handle major turning points such as the Louisiana Purchase. He later turned to diplomacy, serving as a negotiator in the peace talks that ended the War of 1812 and then as U.S. minister to France and to Great Britain.
In his later years, he remained deeply involved in cultural and scholarly work. He helped found New York University and was active in historical and ethnological organizations, showing the same broad curiosity that had marked his political career. He died on August 12, 1849.