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The United States on March 12, 1847

Who held every office, how Congress and the Court were made up, and what happened within a week. Diff this day against today →

President
Polk
James Knox Polk D · since Mar 4, 1845
Senate
24 D · 13 W
37 senators · 30th Congress
House
—
0 representatives
Supreme Court
8 D · 1 W
9 justices by appointing party
Union
29 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$16M
as of Jul 1, 1846
1847-03-12/executiveThe administration
President James Knox Polk D
since Mar 4, 1845
Vice President George Mifflin Dallas D
Postmaster General Cave Johnson D
since Mar 6, 1845
Secretary of War William L. Marcy D
since Mar 6, 1845
Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker D
since Mar 8, 1845
Secretary of State James Buchanan D
since Mar 10, 1845
Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason D
since Jan 1, 1846
Attorney General Nathan Clifford D
since Oct 17, 1846
1847-03-12/congress30th Congress
Senate · 24 D · 13 W
Arthur Pendleton Bagby (Democrat, AL)Ambrose Hundley Sevier (Democrat, AR)John Milton Niles (Democrat, CT)James Diament Westcott Jr. (Democrat, FL)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Walter Terry Colquitt (Democrat, GA)Sidney Breese (Democrat, IL)Edward Allen Hannegan (Democrat, IN)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)John Fairfield (Democrat, ME)Lewis Cass (Democrat, MI)David Rice Atchison (Democrat, MO)Thomas Hart Benton (Democrat, MO)Jesse Speight (Democrat, MS)Charles Gordon Atherton (Democrat, NH)Daniel Stevens Dickinson (Democrat, NY)John Adams Dix (Democrat, NY)William Allen (Democrat, OH)Simon Cameron (Democrat, PA)Daniel Sturgeon (Democrat, PA)Andrew Pickens Butler (Democrat, SC)Hopkins Lacy Turney (Democrat, TN)Thomas Jefferson Rusk (Democrat, TX)Isaac Samuels Pennybacker (Democrat, VA)Jabez Williams Huntington (Whig, CT)John Middleton Clayton (Whig, DE)John Jordan Crittenden (Whig, KY)Henry Johnson (Whig, LA)Daniel Webster (Whig, MA)James Alfred Pearce (Whig, MD)Reverdy Johnson (Whig, MD)George Edmund Badger (Whig, NC)William Lewis Dayton (Whig, NJ)Thomas Corwin (Whig, OH)Albert Collins Greene (Whig, RI)William Upham (Whig, VT)Samuel Shethar Phelps (Whig, VT)
House ·
1847-03-12/supreme-courtThe bench
John McLean D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 7, 1829
James Moore Wayne D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Jan 9, 1835
Roger Brooke Taney D
Chief Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 15, 1836
John Catron D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 8, 1837
John McKinley D
Associate Justice · appointed by Martin Van Buren · since Sep 25, 1837
Peter Vivian Daniel D
Associate Justice · appointed by Martin Van Buren · since Mar 3, 1841
Samuel Nelson W
Associate Justice · appointed by John Tyler · since Feb 13, 1845
Levi Woodbury D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Jan 3, 1846
Robert Cooper Grier D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Aug 4, 1846
1847-03-12/weekWithin a week · Mar 5, 1847 – Mar 19, 1847
Ruling Wharton Jones v. Zandt
Mar 5, 1847 · 46 U.S. 215
Ruling Innerarity v. Byrne
Mar 6, 1847 · 46 U.S. 295
Ruling The License Cases
Mar 6, 1847 · 46 U.S. 504
Ruling The President v. Eunice Buckingham's Executors
Mar 15, 1847 · 46 U.S. 317

Each office is shown as it stood at the end of the day. Cabinet records come from Wikidata and have gaps for some historical offices.