Joseph Hodges Choate letter (RLC.Ms.507)

Biographical note

Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), a successful lawyer and diplomat, was born on January 24, 1832, in Salem, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard in 1852 followed by Harvard Law School in 1854. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1855 and then the New York bar in 1856, taking a position at the law office of Scudder and Carter in New York, New York. He then entered the firm of Butler, Evarts and Southmayd and in 1859 was admitted to the firm as a partner with its name changing to the firm of Evarts, Southmayd and Choate. In 1884, the firm changed its name again to Evarts, Choate and Beaman and became one of the leading law practices in New York. In 1871, Choate became a member of the Committee of Seventy, which was instrumental in bringing the reign of the corrupt “Boss” William M. Tweed (1823-1878) to an end. In addition, Choate also served as the president of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association.

In January 1899, Choate retired from his successful law career and was appointed United States ambassador to the United Kingdom by President William McKinley (1843-1901). Choate remained in this position until the spring of 1905 and was effective in fostering good relations between the two countries. In 1907, he was one of the United States representatives at the second Hague Peace Conference in the Netherlands. Choate was an ardent supporter of the Allies during World War I (1914-1918) and spoke publicly about the war at various speaking engagements in New York. Joseph Hodges Choate died suddenly at this home on 8 East Sixty-Third Street in New York City on May 14, 1917, after suffering a heart attack.