Bayard, Thomas Francis

Bayard, Thomas Francis (bī`ərd), 1828–98, U.S. statesman, b. Wilmington, Del.; son of James Asheton Bayard (1799–1880). He began his law practice at Wilmington (1851). An active Democrat, Bayard was elected U.S. Senator (1869) to succeed his father and was reelected in 1875 and 1881. He became Secretary of State during Cleveland's first administration. Bayard was much concerned with Anglo-American relations. He became ambassador to Great Britain during Cleveland's second term.

Bibliography

See study by C. C. Tansill (1940, repr. 1969).

---

Bayard, Thomas Francis

(born Oct. 29, 1828, Wilmington, Del., U.S.—died Sept. 28, 1898, Dedham, Mass.) U.S. statesman, diplomat, and lawyer. Born into a prominent political family, he succeeded his father as U.S. senator from Delaware (1869–85). He served as secretary of state (1885–89) and as ambassador to Britain (1893–97), the first U.S. representative to Great Britain to hold that rank. A champion of arbitration, he was critical of the aggressive position of Pres. Grover Cleveland in the dispute with Britain over the Venezuelan boundary (1895).