Andrew Kerry

***Andrew Kerry***

**Andrew Kerry** was the 6th Secretary of State and an Associate Justice. Andrew Kerry was also a candidate for the 1798 New York Governor Race, and the Presidential Election of 1816, being a candidate for the Constitutional Democratic Party in both. Kerry was also a wealthy citizen who funded many military ventures in New York during the Revolutionary War and Second Civil War.

## American Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Andrew Kerry was in his 30s, having been wealthy most of his life sitting on old money, Kerry supported the Revolution by throwing in huge amounts of funding for New York militias. Kerry personally never fought in the war, and avoided most of it, but he remained involved in local politics. Kerry served as a local leader in the aftermath of the war, serving in some local offices in the 1790s.

## Political Career

In the 1798 New York Governor Race, Andrew Kerry was picked up by the Constitutional Democrats to run for Governor of New York against incumbent Alexander Hamilton and challenger Chancellor of New York Robert R. Livingston. Kerry lost pretty bad, and many thought he had spoiled the election and gave it to Livingston, however Kerry always denied this.

### Secretary of State

In early 1802, Secretary of State Scott Benckendorf resigned after a controversy with the Treaty of Newark. George Benckendorf now needed a new Secretary of State, and he had been well informed about the new face in politics for New York, picking Andrew Kerry for the new Secretary of State. Kerry was integral in negotiating the Treaty of Québec and the Louisiana Purchase, gaining some favorable terms for both the nation and his party. Kerry stayed in his office for 7 years before leaving with the outgoing of President George Benckendorf.

### Presidential Campaign

In 1816 among the rapid recession of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Andrew Kerry was selected for the Presidential Candidate in the Presidential Election of 1816. Philip Cox was selected as their Vice Presidential Candidate, being a Representative from Pennsylvania. Kerry widely campaigned on bringing back the Benckendorfite policies of the 1800s to early 1810s, Kerry was not very popular though, and with competent competitors like the incumbent Rudolph Hartmann and future President John Quincy Adams, Kerry stood little chance, getting 4th place in the electoral college and not being considered in the contingent of the following year.

### Supreme Court

Justice Kerry joined the Court in early 1823, ruling with the majority in Banks v. Rush that the Incompatibility Clause should be upheld, a major change from how politics were conducted in the late 1790s to early 1820s. In another significant case, Kerry ruled with the majority in Gus v. North Carolina and Virginia, which showed that the 17th Amendment was applicable to protecting the rights of citizens against unreasonable deportation, though a win for civil rights, most southerners had already been displaced while the laws were in effect, vastly dropping the black populations of the states involved.

## Personal Life

Andrew Kerry was born on July 3, 1741 to the wealthy couple James and Anabelle Kerry in Albany, New York. Andrew Kerry was always a social advocate, especially during the 1770s during the Revolutionary War, but was never as popular as others in New York.