Dictionary.net

(grandson of James A.), born in Delaware in 1828, practiced law in Philadelphia and Wilmington from 1851 to 1869. From 1869 to 1885 he was Senator from Delaware, and was one of the most able and prominent of the Democratic Senators. In 1877 he was a member of the Electoral Commission which decided the disputed Hayes-Tilden election. In 1881 he was president pro tempore of the Senate. In 1880 and again in 1884 he had many votes in convention as a candidate for the Presidency. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed him Secretary of State, in which office he served with credit till 1889, pursuing constantly a pacific policy toward foreign nations. In 1893, when the grade of ambassador was for the first time established in the American diplomatic service, he was appointed our representative in England with that title, and was the first to bear it.