John Young Mason Biography

John Young Mason served as U.S. attorney general from 1845 to 1846 under President James Polk. During his many years of public service, Mason served as a powerful legislator, cabinet member and diplomat. However, as attorney general Mason did little to distinguish himself from others who served when the office had little power or authority.

Mason was born on April 18, 1799, in Greensville County, Virginia. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1816 he studied law at Litchfield Law School in Connecticut. Mason returned to Virginia after graduation in 1819 and was immediately admitted to the Virginia bar. During his first three years of private law practice he moved twice and soon was more interested in Democratic Party politics than the law. Between 1823 and 1831 Mason served in the Virginia general assembly and the state senate, all the while cultivating national leaders in nearby Washington, D.C.

Mason made the jump to national politics in 1831, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a Democrat, he strongly supported the policies of President Andrew Jackson, who sought to curtail the powers of the national government and the financial institutions that benefited from it. Mason voted against rechartering the National Bank, a major Jackson issue despite calls from Virginia to support it. An active legislator, Mason favored westward expansion of the United States, though at one point he supported independence for Texas.

Mason left Congress in 1837 to become a federal district court judge in Virginia. However, President John Tyler, who became president when William Henry Harrison died soon after taking office, appointed Mason Secretary of the Navy in 1844 during his last year in office. Mason's willingness to give up his lifetime judicial appointment made more sense after James Polk succeeded Tyler. Polk, a Democrat who also was a fierce advocate of westward expansion, named Mason attorney general after taking office in March 1845. During his year and a half in office, Mason issued advisory opinions to the president and the cabinet but did not have much else to do. At this point in U.S. history the office of attorney general was still a part-time position. Mason, like his predecessors, maintained his private law practice and performed his government duties with a small staff. It was not surprising that Mason eagerly agreed to return to his former post as Secretary of the Navy in 1846.

Polk moved Mason to the Navy Department because of the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, which was fueled by Polk's desire to take Texas and the Southwest away from Mexico. He served in this position until 1849, when Polk left office. Mason returned to Virginia to practice law and manage a canal company, yet he remained active in Democratic politics. His loyal support led President Franklin Pierce to name him ambassador to France in 1853. President James Buchanan, another politician turned diplomat who had been ambassador to Great Britain, reappointed Mason ambassador to France in 1857. He remained in this post until his death on October 18, 1859 in Paris.