Nathan Clifford

Nathan Clifford
Clifford c. 1855–65
Nathan Clifford
Born	18 8, 1803
Birthplace	Rumney, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Cornish, Maine, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Statesman, diplomat, jurist
Known for	Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Attorney General; signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
Spouse(s)	Hannah Ayer

Nathan Clifford (August 18, 1803 – July 25, 1881) was an American statesman, diplomat, and jurist who served in all three branches of the United States federal government over the course of a career spanning more than four decades. Born in the small town of Rumney, New Hampshire, Clifford rose from modest origins to become one of the most prominent Democratic politicians of the mid-nineteenth century. He served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives, as Attorney General of Maine, as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Maine, as the 19th United States Attorney General under President James K. Polk, and as United States Ambassador to Mexico, a post in which he played a central role in the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War. In 1858, President James Buchanan appointed Clifford to the Supreme Court of the United States as an Associate Justice, a position he held until his death in 1881. Clifford remains one of the few individuals in American history to have held a constitutional office in each of the three branches of the federal government—legislative, executive, and judicial.

Early Life

Nathan Clifford was born on August 18, 1803, in Rumney, a small rural community in Grafton County, New Hampshire. His early years were shaped by the agrarian economy and modest circumstances typical of New England's interior communities at the turn of the nineteenth century. Details regarding his parents and upbringing are sparse in the primary sources, but Clifford's later career trajectory suggests a young man of considerable ambition and intellectual capacity who sought to rise through education and the legal profession.

Clifford pursued the study of law, which in the early nineteenth century frequently involved apprenticing under an established attorney rather than attending a formal law school. He read law and was admitted to the bar, after which he relocated to Maine—at that time a rapidly growing state that had only achieved statehood in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise. Clifford settled in the town of Newfield, York County, where he began the practice of law and quickly became involved in local and state politics as a member of the Democratic Party.

Maine in the 1820s and 1830s offered considerable opportunity for an ambitious young lawyer. The state's legal and political infrastructure was still developing, and talented attorneys could rapidly attain prominence. Clifford took advantage of these conditions, building a legal practice and establishing the political connections that would propel him into public office. He later moved to the town of Cornish, also in York County, which would remain his home base throughout his life and where he would ultimately die in 1881.

Career

Maine State Politics

Clifford's political career began in the Maine state legislature. He served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives during the term of 1833–1834, and he also served as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 1830 to 1834, a position that placed him at the center of the state's Democratic political establishment. His tenure as Speaker demonstrated his organizational abilities and his capacity to manage legislative proceedings, skills that would serve him well in subsequent offices.

In 1834, Clifford was appointed Attorney General of Maine, serving under Governor Robert Dunlap. He held this office from January 1, 1834, to January 3, 1838, succeeding Jonathan Rogers and being succeeded by Daniel Goodenow. As the state's chief legal officer, Clifford was responsible for representing the interests of the state in legal proceedings and advising the governor and legislature on matters of law. His four-year tenure in this role further consolidated his reputation as a capable lawyer and loyal Democrat.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1838, Clifford was elected to the United States House of Representatives, representing Maine's 1st congressional district. He succeeded John Fairfield, who had been elected governor. Clifford took his seat on March 4, 1839, and served two terms in Congress, leaving office on March 3, 1843. He was succeeded by Joshua Herrick.

During his time in the House, Clifford aligned himself with the Democratic Party's mainstream positions, including support for territorial expansion and the policies of the Jacksonian Democrats. His service in Congress brought him into contact with the national political figures of the era and helped establish the network of relationships that would later lead to his appointment to cabinet-level positions. Although he did not seek or obtain a third term, his congressional service had placed him firmly within the ranks of the national Democratic leadership.

United States Attorney General

After leaving Congress, Clifford returned to Maine and his legal practice. However, his career in national politics was far from over. In 1846, President James K. Polk appointed Clifford as the 19th United States Attorney General, succeeding John Mason. Clifford served in this capacity from October 17, 1846, to March 17, 1848.

Clifford's tenure as Attorney General coincided with the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), one of the most consequential events of the Polk administration. As the nation's chief legal officer, Clifford was involved in the legal and constitutional questions raised by the prosecution of the war and the anticipated acquisition of vast new territories in the Southwest. The Polk cabinet was deeply engaged in the prosecution of the war and the diplomatic negotiations that accompanied it, and Clifford's role placed him at the center of these deliberations. He was succeeded as Attorney General by Isaac Toucey.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Perhaps the most historically significant chapter of Clifford's pre-judicial career was his service as United States Ambassador to Mexico. President Polk appointed Clifford to this post in 1848, and he served from October 2, 1848, to September 6, 1849, continuing briefly under President Zachary Taylor. He succeeded John Slidell in the position and was in turn succeeded by Robert Letcher.

Clifford's appointment came at a critical juncture in U.S.–Mexican relations. The Mexican–American War had concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, a treaty that ceded vast territories—including present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming—to the United States in exchange for $15 million. Clifford played a significant role in the diplomatic process surrounding the treaty's ratification and implementation. As ambassador, he was responsible for managing the bilateral relationship in the immediate aftermath of the war, a period of considerable tension and complexity. His involvement in the signing and ratification process of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo remains one of his most notable contributions to American diplomatic history.

After completing his service in Mexico, Clifford returned to Maine in 1849 and resumed his legal practice, settling in Portland. For the next several years, he remained active in Democratic politics while building a successful law practice.

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

On January 21, 1858, Nathan Clifford was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, following his nomination by President James Buchanan. He succeeded Justice Benjamin Curtis, who had resigned in the aftermath of the controversial Dred Scott v. Sandford decision.

Clifford's nomination was not without controversy. He was a Northern Democrat with strong ties to the pro-slavery wing of the party, and his nomination was viewed by many Republicans and abolitionists as an attempt by the Buchanan administration to place another sympathetic voice on the Court at a time of deepening sectional crisis. The Senate confirmed him by a vote of 26 to 23, one of the narrower margins for a Supreme Court confirmation in the antebellum period.

Despite the controversy surrounding his appointment, Clifford served on the Supreme Court for more than twenty-three years, making him one of the longer-serving justices of the nineteenth century. His judicial tenure spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age, periods of immense constitutional transformation. Clifford was generally regarded as a strict constructionist who favored a limited interpretation of federal power. He was a meticulous legal craftsman who wrote detailed, closely reasoned opinions, though his judicial philosophy placed him frequently in the minority as the Court grappled with the constitutional implications of the Reconstruction Amendments and the expanding scope of federal authority.

Clifford authored numerous opinions during his tenure, many of them in technical areas of law such as admiralty, patent law, and commercial law. He was known for the thoroughness and length of his opinions, which reflected his deep engagement with the factual and legal intricacies of the cases before him.

Electoral Commission of 1877

One of the most notable episodes of Clifford's Supreme Court career was his role in the Electoral Commission of 1877, convened to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876 between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The commission, composed of five senators, five representatives, and five Supreme Court justices, was tasked with adjudicating the disputed electoral votes from several Southern states. Clifford, as the senior associate justice among the Democratic appointees, served as the chairman of the commission. The commission ultimately voted along partisan lines, 8 to 7, to award all disputed electoral votes to Hayes, effectively deciding the election. Clifford, a Democrat, voted in favor of Tilden on each disputed question and was reportedly deeply dissatisfied with the outcome, which he considered a miscarriage of justice.

Declining Health

In his final years on the bench, Clifford's health deteriorated significantly. He suffered a stroke in 1880 that left him severely incapacitated, and by the end of that year he was no longer able to participate meaningfully in the Court's work. Despite his condition, Clifford refused to resign from the Court. According to some accounts, he expressed the desire to remain on the bench until a Democratic president could appoint his successor—a wish that would go unfulfilled, as the presidency remained in Republican hands.

Clifford's incapacity during his final year on the Court has been cited by legal scholars as one of several historical examples illustrating the challenges posed by the absence of a mandatory retirement age or fitness standard for Supreme Court justices. His case is frequently discussed alongside those of other justices who served well past their capacity to contribute effectively to the Court's work.

Personal Life

Nathan Clifford married Hannah Ayer, and the couple resided in Portland, Maine, for much of their married life. Details regarding their children and family life are limited in the available primary sources, though records indicate that the Cliffords were a prominent family in Portland's civic and social life.

Clifford was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, and his political allegiances shaped both his career and his judicial philosophy. He maintained close ties to Maine's Democratic establishment throughout his life and was a significant figure in the state's political culture for more than five decades.

In his later years, Clifford retreated to his home in Cornish, Maine, where he spent his final months following the stroke that ended his active service on the Court. He died on July 25, 1881, in Cornish, at the age of 77. His funeral was held in Portland, and he was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in that city. He was succeeded on the Supreme Court by Horace Gray, who was nominated by President Chester A. Arthur.

Recognition

Clifford's career, spanning all three branches of the federal government, earned him a distinctive place in American political and legal history. He is one of the few individuals to have held a constitutional office in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government—serving as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

The New Hampshire District Court has recognized Clifford as one of the notable figures associated with the state's legal history, reflecting his New Hampshire origins and his subsequent contributions to American jurisprudence.

Clifford's role in the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and his long service on the Supreme Court have ensured that he appears in scholarly treatments of antebellum diplomacy, Civil War–era constitutionalism, and the history of the federal judiciary. His involvement as chairman of the Electoral Commission of 1877 also secures his place in discussions of one of the most controversial episodes in American electoral history.

While Clifford was not among the most prominent or influential justices in the history of the Supreme Court, his opinions in areas such as admiralty and patent law contributed to the development of those fields during the nineteenth century. His career, viewed as a whole, reflects the trajectory of a Northern Democrat navigating the constitutional crises of slavery, war, and Reconstruction.

Legacy

Nathan Clifford's legacy is multifaceted and best understood within the context of mid-nineteenth-century American politics and law. His career illustrates the possibilities available to ambitious men of modest origins in the early American republic, as well as the deep entanglement of law, politics, and sectional conflict that characterized the era.

Clifford's role in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo places him among the architects of the continental expansion of the United States. The treaty, which transferred roughly half of Mexico's territory to the United States, reshaped the map of North America and set the stage for the sectional conflicts that would culminate in the Civil War. As ambassador, Clifford was directly involved in the diplomatic processes that secured this outcome.

On the Supreme Court, Clifford's strict constructionism and his resistance to broad interpretations of federal power placed him in a conservative tradition that would continue to influence American constitutional thought long after his death. His tenure coincided with some of the most transformative periods in American legal history, and his dissenting opinions in key cases provide a window into the jurisprudential debates of the era.

Clifford's refusal to resign from the Court despite his incapacity has had a lasting impact on discussions of judicial fitness and the institutional design of the Supreme Court. Legal scholars, including David J. Garrow, have cited Clifford's case as evidence of the potential dangers inherent in the lifetime tenure guaranteed to federal judges by Article III of the Constitution. These discussions remain relevant in contemporary debates over proposals for judicial term limits or mandatory retirement ages.

Clifford is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine, alongside other prominent figures from the state's history. His life and career serve as a case study in the intersections of law, diplomacy, and politics during one of the most turbulent periods in American history.