Editing Jacob Thompson (section)

=== Congressional years ===
Thompson's involvement in politics began in earnest as he was elected to the [[26th United States Congress|26th Congress]], serving through to the [[31st United States Congress|31st Congress]] (1849–1851).

He was appointed to the [[United States Senate]] in 1845 but never received the commission, and the seat went to [[Joseph W. Chalmers]]. Thompson was the chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Resources|Committee on Indian Affairs]] in the [[29th United States Congress|29th Congress]]. He lost reelection to the [[32nd United States Congress|32nd Congress]] and went back to practicing law in Mississippi. In 1853, when [[President Franklin Pierce]] offered him to become a [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Cuba|U.S Consul to Havana]] he refused it. Thompson lost the [[1854–55 United States Senate elections|1855 senate election]] to [[Jefferson Davis]], but in 1857, newly elected [[President of the United States|President]] [[James Buchanan]] appointed Thompson [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] from 1857 to 1861.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://millercenter.org/president/buchanan/essays/thompson-1857-secretary-of-the-interior | title=Jacob Thompson (1857–1861) &#124; Miller Center | date=October 4, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/22881?ret=True | title=THOMPSON, Jacob &#124; US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives }}</ref>

In the later years of the [[James Buchanan#Administration and Cabinet|Buchanan administration]], the cabinet members argued with one another on issues of [[slavery]] and [[Secession in the United States|secession]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} In an 1859 speech, Thompson advanced a moderate unionist position. He denounced [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] in the North who spoke of the slavery issue as an "irrepressible conflict" and Southern extremists who favored reopening the [[Atlantic slave trade]].{{sfn|Dew|2001|p=31}}