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The United States on July 8, 1859

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

President
Buchanan
James Buchanan D · since Mar 4, 1857
Senate
25 D · 17 R
44 senators · 36th Congress
House
—
0 representatives
Supreme Court
8 D · 1 W
9 justices by appointing party
Union
33 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$59M
as of Jul 1, 1859
1859-07-08/executiveThe administration
President James Buchanan D
since Mar 4, 1857
Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge D
Secretary of State Lewis Cass D
since Mar 6, 1857
Attorney General Jeremiah S. Black D
since Mar 6, 1857
Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb D
since Mar 7, 1857
Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey D
since Mar 7, 1857
1859-07-08/congress36th Congress
Senate · 25 D · 17 R · 1 A · 1 U
Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democrat, AL)Robert Ward Johnson (Democrat, AR)David Colbreth Broderick (Democrat, CA)William McKendree Gwin (Democrat, CA)James Asheton Bayard Jr. (Democrat, DE)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Stephen Russell Mallory (Democrat, FL)Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democrat, GA)Graham Newell Fitch (Democrat, IN)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)John Slidell (Democrat, LA)James Alfred Pearce (Democrat, MD)Henry Mower Rice (Democrat, MN)James Stephen Green (Democrat, MO)Trusten Polk (Democrat, MO)Jefferson Davis (Democrat, MS)Thomas Lanier Clingman (Democrat, NC)John Renshaw Thomson (Democrat, NJ)George Ellis Pugh (Democrat, OH)William Bigler (Democrat, PA)James Henry Hammond (Democrat, SC)James Chesnut Jr. (Democrat, SC)Andrew Johnson (Democrat, TN)Matthias Ward (Democrat, TX)James Murray Mason (Democrat, VA)John Jordan Crittenden (American, KY)Anthony Kennedy (Unionist, MD)Lafayette Sabine Foster (Republican, CT)James Dixon (Republican, CT)James Harlan (Republican, IA)Lyman Trumbull (Republican, IL)Charles Sumner (Republican, MA)Hannibal Hamlin (Republican, ME)Zachariah Chandler (Republican, MI)Daniel Clark (Republican, NH)William Henry Seward (Republican, NY)Preston King (Republican, NY)Benjamin Franklin Wade (Republican, OH)Simon Cameron (Republican, PA)James Fowler Simmons (Republican, RI)Jacob Collamer (Republican, VT)Solomon Foot (Republican, VT)Charles Durkee (Republican, WI)James Rood Doolittle (Republican, WI)
House ·
1859-07-08/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
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
Robert Cooper Grier D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Aug 4, 1846
John Archibald Campbell D
Associate Justice · appointed by Franklin Pierce · since Mar 22, 1853
Nathan Clifford D
Associate Justice · appointed by James Buchanan · since Jan 12, 1858
1859-07-08/weekWithin a week · Jul 1, 1859 – Jul 15, 1859
Nothing recorded within a week of this date.

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.