OVERVIEW:

BORN:
January 17, 1800,
Salisbury, Massachusetts

DIED:
January 2, 1879 (age 78)
Newburyport, Massachusetts,

EDUCATION:
Harvard University

POLITICAL PARTY:
Democratic-Republican (Before 1825)
National Republican (1825–1833)
Whig (1833–1847)
Democratic (1847–1879)

HIGHLIGHTS: 
1823:
Admitted to the bar in Newburyport, Massachusetts
1825:
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1827:
Served in Massachusetts State Senate
1833-1834:
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1835-1843:
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts,
1843:
Nominated  by President John Tyler to be U.S. Secretary of the Treasury,
Nomination was rejected by the Senate
1844:
U.S. Minister to China
1845-1846:
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1847:
Colonel of a Massachusetts regiment during the war with Mexico 
1847, 1848:
Unsuccessful Democratic Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts 
1850:
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
1851-1852:
Mayor of Newburyport, Massachusetts 
1852:
Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts 
1853-1857:
U.S. Attorney General
1860:
Chairman of the Democratic National Conventions in Baltimore and Charleston
1866-1870:
Served as a commissioner to codify the laws of the United States
1874:
Nominated by President Grant to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,
Not confirmed by the Senate
1874-1877:
U.S. Minister to Spain 

SOURCES:
Biographical Directory of Congress
U.S. House of Representatives
Department of Justice
Wikipedia

PORTRAIT: