Cassius Clay, Minister to Russia

Dublin Core

Title

Cassius Clay, Minister to Russia

Description

            Cassius Marcellus Clay served as minister to Russia for two terms: first from July 14, 1861 to June 25, 1862, and again from May 7, 1863 to October 1, 1869. His tenure as minister was marked by a successful alignment of Russia with American interests during the Civil War. Clay himself seemed an unusual choice for the ministry to Russia, and it seems that his appointment to a diplomatic position was a political reward for his loyal campaigning for Lincoln.[1] Clay himself was unique as a Kentucky Republican and abolitionist, and he was also known as a “firebrand” who carried “a bowie knife and two pistols” for his own defense.[2]

            However, these attributes seem not to have impaired his mission or the general state of Russo-American relations. Clay in fact was one of the most ideological supporters of Russia, and he never hesitated to tell both Americans and Russians that the two nations were united by more than diplomatic necessity. Upon the return of the Russian fleet from the United States, Clay explained the warm welcome given to them as American recognition of the “common cause in the advancement of humanity.”[3] Although the natural alignment of Russia and the United States against Britain and France meant that good relations were bound to occur, Clay’s efforts went beyond not doing anything to impair that friendship. The gun-toting Kentuckian’s high praise of Russia provided the most forceful defense of Russo-American friendship in the Lincoln administration.



[1] John Kuhn Bliemaier, “Cassius Marcellus Clay in St. Petersburg.” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 73, no. 3 (July, 1975): 264.

[2] Benjamin Platt Thomas, Russo-American Relations, 1815-1867. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1930), 104.

[3] Alexander Tarsaidze, Czars and Presidents. (New York: Mcdowell Obolensky, 1958), 222.

Creator

Samuel Coffin

Source

John Kuhn Bliemaier, “Cassius Marcellus Clay in St. Petersburg.” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 73, no. 3 (July, 1975): 263-287.

Alexander Tarsaidze, Czars and Presidents. New York: Mcdowell Obolensky, 1958.

Benjamin Platt Thomas, Russo-American Relations, 1815-1867. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1930.

Date

1861-1862, 1863-1869

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