Editing Timothy Pickering (section)

{{Short description|U.S. statesman and secessionist (1745–1829)}}
{{redirect|Senator Pickering}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = PORTRAIT OF TIMOTHY PICKERING, 3RD SECRETARY OF STATE PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JOHN ADAMS.jpg
| caption             = Portrait by [[Gilbert Stuart]]
| alt                 = Portrait painting of Pickering
| office              = 3rd [[United States Secretary of State]]
| president           = [[George Washington]]<br/>[[John Adams]]
| term_start          = December 10, 1795
| term_end            = May 12, 1800 <br/>{{Small|Ad interim: August 20 – December 10, 1795}}
| predecessor         = [[Edmund Randolph]]
| successor           = [[John Marshall]]
| office1             = 2nd [[United States Secretary of War]]
| president1          = George Washington
| term_start1         = January 2, 1795
| term_end1           = December 10, 1795
| predecessor1        = [[Henry Knox]]
| successor1          = [[James McHenry]]
| office2             = 5th [[United States Postmaster General]]
| president2          = George Washington
| term_start2         = August 12, 1791
| term_end2           = January 1, 1795
| predecessor2        = [[Samuel Osgood]]
| successor2          = [[Joseph Habersham]]
| jr/sr3              = United States Senator
| state3              = [[Massachusetts]]
| term_start3         = March 4, 1803
| term_end3           = March 3, 1811
| predecessor3        = [[Dwight Foster (1757–1823)|Dwight Foster]]
| successor3          = [[Joseph Bradley Varnum]]
| office4             = Member of the<br/>[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br/>from Massachusetts
| term_start4         = March 4, 1813
| term_end4           = March 3, 1817
| predecessor4        = [[Leonard White (politician)|Leonard White]]
| successor4          = [[Nathaniel Silsbee]]
| constituency4       = {{ushr|MA|3|3rd district}} (1813–15)<br/>{{ushr|MA|2|2nd district}} (1815–17)
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1745|7|17}}
| birth_place         = [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Bay]], [[British America]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1829|1|29|1745|7|17}}
| death_place         = [[Salem, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| party               = [[Federalist Party|Federalist]]
| education           = [[Harvard College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| signature           = Timothy Pickering Signature.svg
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[List of militia units of Massachusetts|Massachusetts militia]]<br/>[[Continental Army]]<br/>[[United States Army]]
| rank                = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| serviceyears        = 1766–1785
| battles             = [[American Revolutionary War]]
| children            = * [[John Pickering (linguist)]]
}}
'''Timothy Pickering''' (July 17, 1745{{spaced ndash}}January 29, 1829) was the third [[United States Secretary of State]], serving under Presidents [[George Washington]] and [[John Adams]]. He also represented [[Massachusetts]] in both houses of [[United States Congress|Congress]] as a member of the [[Federalist Party]]. In 1795, he was elected a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Tim+Pickering&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-03-31|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

Born in [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] in the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], Pickering began a legal career after graduating from [[Harvard College]]. He won election to the [[Massachusetts General Court]] and served as a county judge. He also became an officer in the colonial militia and served in the [[siege of Boston]] during the early stages of the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Later in the war, he was Adjutant General and [[Quartermaster General of the United States Army|Quartermaster General]] of the [[Continental Army]]. After the war, Pickering moved to the [[Wyoming Valley]] of [[Pennsylvania]] and took part in the then colony's 1787 ratifying convention for the [[United States Constitution]].

President Washington appointed Pickering to the position of [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] in 1791. After briefly serving as [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], Pickering became the Secretary of State in 1795, and remained in that office after President Adams was inaugurated. As Secretary of State, Pickering favored close relations with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]]. President Adams dismissed him in 1800 due to Pickering's opposition to peace with [[France]] during the [[Quasi-War]].

Pickering won election to represent Massachusetts in the [[United States Senate]] in 1803, becoming an ardent opponent of the [[Embargo Act of 1807]]. He continued to support Britain in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], famously describing the country as "The World's last hope – Britain's Fast-anchored Isle."<ref>Clarfield. ''Timothy Pickering and the American Republic'' p.246</ref> He left the Senate in 1811 but served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1813 to 1817. During the [[War of 1812]], he became a leader of the [[New England]] secession movement and helped organize the [[Hartford Convention]]. The fallout from the convention ended Pickering's political career. He lived as a farmer in Salem until his death in 1829.