OVERVIEW:

FULL NAME:
Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter

BORN:
April 21, 1809
Loretto, Virginia

DIED:
July 18, 1887 (age 78)
Alexandria, Virginia 

EDUCATION:
University of Virginia (1828)

POLITICAL PARTY:
Whig (Before 1844)
Democratic (1844–1887)

HIGHLIGHTS: 
1830:
Admitted to the Virginia Bar 
1834-1837:
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
1837-1843
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia,
States Rights Whig
1839-1841:
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
1845-1847:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia
1847-1861:
U.S. Senator from Virginia 
1861:
Expelled from the U.S. Senate for Supporting the Rebellion
1861-1862:
Secretary of State for the Confederate States
1862-1865:
Confederate State Senator from Virginia
February 1865:
Served as one of the Peace Commissioners that met President Abraham Lincoln in Hampton Roads 
1862-1865:
President pro tempore of the Confederate States Senate 
1874-1880:
State Treasurer of Virginia 
1885:
Collector for the Port of Tappahannock,  Virginia 

RESOURCES:
U.S. House of Representatives
Biographical Directory of Congress
Library of Congress
Wikipedia

PAPERS:
Correspondence of Robert M. T. Hunter, 1826-1876

ARTICLES:
A Mob In Search of a Speaker (U.S. House of Representatives, 4/8/2014)