Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746–1825, American political leader and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of Thomas Pinckney and cousin of Charles Pinckney. After attending Oxford and the military academy at Caen, France, he returned to Charleston, where in 1769 he began to practice law. Subsequent to serving (1775) in the provincial congress, he joined the Continental Army in the American Revolution and was captured by the British at Charleston in 1780. A delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, he helped to secure South Carolina's ratification of the Constitution. In 1796 he was sent as minister to France but was not received by the French government. The next year he was joined by Elbridge Gerry and John Marshall in the mission that led to the notorious XYZ Affair XYZ Affair, name usually given to an incident (1797–98) in Franco-American diplomatic relations. The United States had in 1778 entered into an alliance with France, but after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars was both unable and unwilling to lend
..... Click the link for more information. ; Pinckney refused to bribe French officials as a prerequisite for opening negotiations with them. He was an unsuccessful Federalist candidate for the vice presidency in 1800 and for the presidency in 1804 and 1808.

Bibliography

See biography by M. R. Zahniser (1967).

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth

(born Feb. 25, 1746, Charleston, S.C.—died Aug. 16, 1825, Charleston, S.C., U.S.) U.S. soldier, statesman, and diplomat. A cousin of Charles Pinckney and the brother of Thomas Pinckney, he was an aide to George Washington in the American Revolution, commanded at Savannah, Ga., and was promoted to brigadier general in 1783. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Appointed minister to France (1796), he was involved in negotiations that ended in the XYZ Affair; when one of the group of French negotiators suggested that the U.S. representatives offer a gift in order to gain a peace treaty, Pinckney is said to have replied, “No! No! Not a sixpence!” He was the unsuccessful Federalist candidate for vice president in 1800 and for president in 1804 and 1808.