Beschreibung:

POLK, JAMES KNOX, President . Autograph letter signed ("James K. Polk") as President, to Hon. John Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy, 9 July 1847. One page, 4to. Fine condition. PRESIDENT POLK CONVENES A CABINET MEETING "There will be a meeting of the Cabinet at 9 1/2 O'Clock this morning and you are requested to attend at that hour...." John Y. Mason (1799-1859), a Virginian, had, as a Congressman, introduced the bill recognizing the Independence of Texas and was appointed by President Tyler to the post of as Attorney General. The only member of Tyler's cabinet retained by Polk, he succeeded to the post of Secretary of the Navy in l846, when George Bancroft resigned to become U.S. Minister to Great Britain. Mason disappointed President Polk in failing to direct the naval side of American operations during the Mexican War; afterwards he served as U.S. Minister to France.