ROBERT R LIVINGSTON 1746 - 1813
Scion of this noble family, Robert was a great grandson of Robert, the founder of the Livingston Manor dynasty. The initial R did not stand for any middle name, rather it distinguished him as the son of Robert of Clermont from the other Roberts in the family. This was standard practice among the New York families at that time.
After completing his education, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1770. His first position of note was as Recorder of the City of New York, but due to his revolutionary leanings, lost the post in 1775 after serving in it for two years.
Almost immediately he was elected to the Continental Congress and was on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Despite this, he was of the opinion that, although independence was desirable and inevitable, the time for it was not yet come. As a consequence he did not vote for it and was absent when the time came for signing.
He continued to serve his State on many various committees and was Chancellor from 1777 until 1801. 1777 was also the year the British burnt down his family home at Clermont that was later rebuilt in 1794.
Further promotion came his way in 1781 when he was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He took this office very seriously indeed although it consisted only of himself and two clerks.
As Chancellor he was to achieve a notable first. On April 30 1789, he administered the Oath of Office to President George Washington in New York City. After the President had repeated the words said by every president since that day, Livingston stepped forward to the front of the balcony and, with a ringing voice, shouted to the crowd below, "Long live the President of the United States."
On vacating the Chancellorship, he was appointed as minister to France by President Jefferson. Early on Easter morning, 1803, in Paris at the Tuilleries Palace, he alongwith James Monroe met with the French Secretary of the Treasury, Barbe-Marbois, an old friend. There they drew up what was acclaimed as the `best bargain in history.`
Napoleon Bonaparte was heavily involved in his European conflict and was in much need of finance as a consequence. As a means of raising extra cash, he was prepared to sell to the United States France`s holdings on the continent. Bonaparte hoped to secure a sum of twenty five million but the American of Scottish extraction insisted on no more than fifteen million. This sum was agreed upon.
The `Louisiana Purchase` as it was to become known, secured for the United States a further thirteen states and a part of two others.
After this brilliant piece of international bargaining, Robert R Livingston retired from public life and returned to his estate on his beloved Hudson River.
Here he collaborated with Robert Fulton, his brother-in-law in developing the first practical steamboat that they called `The Clermont.`
Livingston used his political influence to get a monopoly for steam navigation on the Hudson and ploughed his earnings back into the development of the steamboat.
