Bonaparte restored Lafayette's citizenship on 1 March 1800 and he was able to recover some of his properties. After Marengo, the First Consul offered him the post of French minister to the United States, but Lafayette declined, saying he was too attached to America to act in relation to it as a foreign envoy. In 1802, he was part of the tiny minority that voted no in the referendum that made Bonaparte consul for life. A seat in the Senate and the Legion of Honor were repeatedly offered by Bonaparte, but Lafayette again declined— though stating that he would gladly have accepted the honours from a democratic government.