Thomas Pinckney
United States general
Died when: 78 years 10 days (936 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
Thomas Pinckney (October 23, 1750 – November 2, 1828) was an early American statesman, diplomat, and soldier in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, achieving the rank of major general.
He served as Governor of South Carolina and as the U.S. minister to Great Britain.He was also the Federalist candidate for vice president in the 1796 election.
Born into a prominent family in Charles Town in the Province of South Carolina, Pinckney studied in Europe before returning to America.
He supported the independence cause and worked as an aide to General Horatio Gates.After the Revolutionary War, Pinckney managed his plantation and won election as Governor of South Carolina, serving from 1787 to 1789.
He presided over the state convention which ratified the United States Constitution.In 1792, he accepted President George Washington's appointment to the position of minister to Britain, but was unable to win concessions regarding the impressment of American sailors.
He also served as an envoy to Spain and negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo, which defined the border between Spain and the United States.
Following his diplomatic success in Spain, the Federalists chose Pinckney as John Adams's running mate in the 1796 presidential election.Under the rules then in place, the individual who won the most electoral votes became president, while the individual who won the second most electoral votes became vice president.
Although Adams won the presidential election, Democratic-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson won the second most electoral votes and won election as vice president.
After the election, Pinckney served in the United States House of Representatives from 1797 to 1801.His brother, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, was the Federalist vice presidential nominee in 1800 and the party's presidential nominee in 1804 and 1808.
During the War of 1812, Pinckney was commissioned as a major general.Pinckney was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1797.
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