Biography

Seward supporter at 1860 convention. He later was appointed Secretary of State by President Rutherford B. Hayes, a position he served from March 1877 to March 1881. 

"He graduated from Yale College in 1837 and began Harvard Law School in 1838. Evarts moved to New York City in 1840 and was admitted to the bar on July 16, 1841. Evarts entered into politics as a Whig and was appointed Assistant District Attorney of the southern district of New York in 1848, a post he held until 1853. Evarts later joined the newly formed Republican Party and was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1861. His work in private practice earned him a reputation as one of the country’s top lawyers. Upon the recommendation of Secretary of State William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson retained Evarts as his counsel during his impeachment trial. Afterwards, Johnson appointed Evarts as Attorney General on July 16, 1868, a position in which he served until March 4, 1869. After several years of private practice, Evarts represented the Republican Party before the Hayes-Tilden Commission established to resolve the disputed election of 1876. President Hayes nominated Evarts to be his Secretary of State on March 7, 1877. Despite opposition in the Senate, including that of James G. Blaine, Evarts’s nomination was approved on March 10, and he began his duties on March 12. After leaving office, Evarts served as a delegate to the International Monetary Conference in 1881 and as U.S. Senator from New York from 1885 to 1891."