William Worth Belknap
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- Died:
- October 13, 1890, Washington, D.C.
William Worth Belknap (born September 22, 1829, Newburgh, New York, U.S.—died October 13, 1890, Washington, D.C.) was an American military officer and public official who served with distinction in the Union army during the American Civil War. Later, as secretary of war under U.S. Pres. Ulysses S. Grant, he was accused of taking bribes. In 1876 Belknap became the first presidential cabinet member to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Belknap received a bachelor’s degree from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1848, studied law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He subsequently moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where he practiced law. In 1857 Belknap launched his political career, and he ran as an antislavery Democrat for a seat in the Iowa state legislature. He served a single term (1858–60) in the Iowa House of Representatives.
In 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, he was commissioned a major in the 15th Regiment, Iowa infantry. In the armies of both the Union and the Confederacy, it was commonplace for political officials with no military experience to receive commissions as officers. Unlike many of these appointees, Belknap distinguished himself on the battlefield, and he quickly moved up the ranks. He was involved in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg, among others. After the decisive Union victory at Corinth, he joined the staff of Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, a rising star for the Union in the war’s western theater. In 1864 Belknap was promoted to brigadier general after demonstrating conspicuous valor at the Battle of Atlanta. During intense hand-to-hand fighting, Belknap personally captured Col. Harris Lampley, the commanding officer of the 45th Alabama Infantry, by physically dragging him into Union lines. As commander of the 4th Division, XVII Corps, Belknap participated in Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea, as the Union troops moved from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, leaving a large area of destruction behind them. In March 1865 Belknap received a brevet promotion to the rank of major general.
With the conclusion of the war, Belknap declined a position in the regular army, opting instead to muster out and return to civilian life. He went back to Iowa and for the next four years worked as a collector of the state’s internal revenue service. In 1869 Grant appointed him secretary of war. During his tenure, Belknap worked toward preserving Yellowstone National Park, which was established in 1872.
On March 2, 1876, Belknap abruptly resigned his cabinet position amid rumors of misconduct. Observers had noted that Belknap, who received a relatively modest government salary, hosted lavish parties that were impressive even by the standards of the Gilded Age. After his resignation, the U.S. House of Representatives began impeachment proceedings against Belknap for allegedly operating a kickback scheme at Fort Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Belknap was accused of granting Caleb Marsh, a New York businessman, and an associate the exclusive right to operate a trading post at Fort Sill in exchange for quarterly payments.
The House voted unanimously to advance five articles of impeachment against Belknap, accusing him of “criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War, and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.” The Senate voted down Belknap’s defense that he could not be impeached since he had already resigned, and a clear majority found him guilty on all five articles of impeachment. He was nonetheless acquitted, as the totals were just short of the two-thirds required for conviction. Nearly all of senators who had judged him not guilty stated that they did so not because of the evidence presented, but because they believed that the Senate no longer had jurisdiction because of his resignation. After the trial Belknap moved to Philadelphia but later returned to Washington, D.C., to practice law.
For nearly 150 years Belknap was the only presidential cabinet member to be impeached by the House of Representatives. However, in 2024 Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was also impeached by the House.
