George Mifflin Dallas
1792 - 1864


 

(Vice-President of the United States, 1845-1849 -- and my first cousin)

A native Philadelphian and the son of a prosperous attorney
who served as President Madison's Secretary of the Treasury,
George Mifflin Dallas led a life of public service.

Three years after graduating from Princeton University (Class of 1810),
Dallas became secretary to the chairman of the commission
that negotiated the treaty ending the War of 1812.

He was elected mayor of Philadelphia
and then chosen attorney general for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
He ran successfully for the United States Senate (D-PA), serving from 1831-1833.
He was then appointed Minister to Russia from 1837-1839.

In 1845, George Dallas was elected
the eleventh Vice-President of the United States
and was a loyal supporter of President James K. Polk.
In 1846, he cast the tie-breaking vote on low tariff legislation,
voting for the bill which Polk supported
but which was opposed by the majority of those in his own state.
He never again held political office in the Commonwealth.

Dallas served as Minister to Great Britain from 1856-1861,
and was credited with improving the relations between the two countries.

His biographer described him as “conservative and cosmopolitan,
precise and dignified…the gentleman in politics.”

Princeton conferred an honorary LL.D. on George Mifflin Dallas in 1857,
about the same time the citizens of a thriving community
in northeast Texas named their newly incorporated town after him.

The Dallas family headstone can be found
in St. Peter's churchyard
located in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia.

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