Rufus King
Rufus King by Gilbert Stuart, 1819
United States Senator from New York
In office March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1825
Preceded by	John Smith
Succeeded by	Nathan Sanford
In office July 25, 1789 – May 23, 1796
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	John Laurance
United States Minister to Great Britain
In office November 11, 1825 – May 10, 1826
Nominated by	John Quincy Adams
Preceded by	Richard Rush
Succeeded by	Albert Gallatin
In office July 26, 1796 – May 16, 1803
Nominated by	George Washington
Preceded by	Thomas Pinckney
Succeeded by	James Monroe
Personal details
Born	(1755-03-24)March 24, 1755 Scarborough, Massachusetts (now Maine)
Died	April 29, 1827(1827-04-29) (aged 72) Jamaica, Queens, New York
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Mary Alsop King
Children	James G. King John Alsop King Charles King Edward King Frederic Gore King
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented New York in the United States Senate, served as Minister to Britain, and was the Federalist candidate for both Vice President (1804, 1808) and President of the United States (1816).

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

He was born on March 24, 1755 at Scarborough which was then a part of Massachusetts but is now in the state of Maine. He was a son of Sabilla Blagden and Richard King, a prosperous farmer-merchant, who had settled at Dunstan Landing in Scarborough, near Portland, Maine, and had made a modest fortune by 1755, the year Rufus was born.

His financial success aroused the jealousy of his neighbors, and when the Stamp Act 1765 was imposed, and rioting became almost respectable, a mob ransacked his house and destroyed most of the furniture. Nobody was punished, and the next year the mob burned down his barn. It was not surprising that Richard King became a loyalist. All of his sons, however, became patriots in the American War of Independence.^[1]

Career[link]

King attended Dummer Academy (now The Governor's Academy) and Harvard College, graduating in 1777. He began to read law under Theophilus Parsons, but his studies were interrupted in 1778 when King volunteered for militia duty in the American Revolutionary War. Appointed a major, he served as an aide to General Sullivan^[2] in the Battle of Rhode Island.^[3] After the campaign, King returned to his apprenticeship under Parsons.

He was admitted to the bar in 1780 and began a legal practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.^[4] King was first elected to the Massachusetts state assembly in 1783, and returned there each year until 1785. Massachusetts sent him to the Confederation Congress from 1784 to 1787. He was one of the youngest at the conference.

Politics[link]

In 1787, King was sent to the Federal constitutional convention at Philadelphia where he worked closely with Alexander Hamilton on the Committee of Style and Arrangement to prepare the final draft. He returned home and went to work to get the Constitution ratified and to position himself to be named to the U.S. Senate. He was only partially successful. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, but his efforts to be elected to the Senate failed. Rufus King was good friends with Benjamin Franklin.

At Hamilton's urging, he moved to New York City, and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1789. When the United States Constitution took effect, the State Legislature disagreed on who should be chosen besides Philip Schuyler for U.S. Senator from New York. Alexander Hamilton endorsed Rufus King as a candidate, thwarting the plans of the prominent Livingston family, who had hoped to place one of their own, James Duane, on the seat. Governor George Clinton, looking to cause a rift between the Livingstons and the Schuyler family (Hamilton was Philip Schuyler's son-in-law), discreetly supported King, and as a result he was elected in 1789. He was re-elected in 1795 but resigned on May 23, 1796, having been appointed U. S. Minister to Great Britain.

Diplomat and national candidate[link]

King's nomination to be Minister to the UK (1825)

King played a major diplomatic role as Minister to the Court of St. James from 1796 to 1803, and again from 1825 to 1826. Although he was a leading Federalist, Thomas Jefferson kept him in office until King asked to be relieved. He successfully settled disputes that the Jay Treaty had opened for negotiation. His term was marked by friendship between the U.S. and Britain; it became hostile after 1805. While in Britain, he was in close personal contact with South American revolutionary Francisco de Miranda and facilitated Miranda's trip to the United States in search of support for his failed 1806 expedition to Venezuela.

He was the unsuccessful Federalist Party candidate for Vice President in 1804 and 1808.^[4] In 1813, he was elected again to the U.S. Senate, and served until March 4, 1819. In April 1816, he lost the election for Governor of New York to the incumbent Daniel D. Tompkins of the Democratic-Republican Party. Later that year, King was nominated by the Federalists in the United States presidential election, 1816, but lost again. King was the last presidential candidate to be nominated by the Federalists before their collapse at the end of the First Party System of the United States.

In 1819, he ran for re-election as a Federalist, but the party was already disbanding and had only a small minority in the New York State Legislature. Due to the split of the Democratic-Republicans, no successor was elected to the U.S. Senate, and the seat remained vacant until January 1820 when King was elected again. Trying to attract the former Federalist voters to their side at the next gubernatorial election in April 1820, both factions of the Democratic-Republican Party supported King, who served another term in the U.S. Senate until March 4, 1825.

Anti-slavery activity[link]

Oil painting of King by Charles Willson Peale (1818)

King had a long history of opposition to the expansion of slavery and the slave trade. This stand was a product of moral conviction which coincided with the political realities of New England federalism. While in Congress, he successfully added provisions to the 1785 Northwest Ordinance which barred the extension of slavery into the Northwest Territory.^[4] But he also said he was willing "to suffer the continuance of slaves until they can be gradually emancipated in states already overrun with them." He did not press the issue very hard at this time. At the Constitutional Convention, he indicated that his opposition to slavery was based upon the political and economic advantages it gave to the South, but he was willing to compromise for political reasons.

In 1817, he supported Senate action to abolish the domestic slave trade and, in 1819, spoke strongly for the antislavery amendment to the Missouri statehood bill. In 1819, his arguments were political, economic, and humanitarian; the extension of slavery would adversely affect the security of the principles of freedom and liberty. After the Missouri Compromise, he continued to support gradual emancipation in various ways.^[5]

Family[link]

Many of King's family were also involved in politics and he had a number of prominent descendants. His brother William King was the first governor of Maine and a prominent merchant, and his other brother, Cyrus King, was a U. S. Representative from Massachusetts.

His wife Mary Alsop was born in New York on October 17, 1769 and died in Jamaica, New York on June 5, 1819. She was the only daughter of John Alsop, a wealthy merchant, and a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. She was also a great niece of Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She married Mr. King in New York City on March 30, 1786, he being at that time a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress then sitting in that city.

Mrs. King was a lady of remarkable beauty, gentle and gracious manners, and well cultivated mind, and adorned the high station, both in England and at home, that her husband's official positions and their own social relations entitled them to occupy. The latter years of her life, except while in Washington, were passed in Jamaica, Long Island, New York.

King died on April 29, 1827 and his funeral was held at his farm in Jamaica, Queens. He is buried in the Grace Church Cemetery in Jamaica, Queens, New York.^[6] The home that King purchased in 1805 and expanded thereafter and some of his farm make up King Park in Queens. The home, called King Manor, is now a museum and is open to the public.

The Rufus King School, also known as P.S. 26, in Fresh Meadows, New York, was named after King, as was the Rufus King Hall on the CUNY Queens College campus and King Street^[7] in Madison, Wi. Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is named after his grandson, Rufus King, a general in the American Civil War.

Descendants[link]

Rufus King's descendants number in the thousands today. Some of his notable descendants include;

• Dr. C. Loring Brace IV, noted Biological anthropologist.
• Gerald Warner Brace, (1901–1978) was an American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder.
• Charles Loring Brace, (1826–1890) was a philanthropist and was most renowned for founding The Children's Aid Society.
• David Crosby, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash and CPR (band).
• Floyd Crosby, was an award winning American cinematographer.
• Wolcott Gibbs, was an American editor, humorist, theater critic, playwright and author of short stories.
• Archibald Gracie III, was a career United States Army officer, businessman, and a graduate of West Point. He is well known for being a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War and for his death during the Siege of Petersburg.
• Archibald Gracie IV, was an American writer, amateur historian, real estate investor, and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
• Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., USN,^[8] (called "Bill Halsey" and sometimes known as "Bull" Halsey), was a U.S. Naval officer and the commander of the United States Third Fleet during part of the Pacific War against Japan. Earlier, he had commanded the South Pacific Theater during desperate times.
• Isabella Beecher Hooker, (1822–1907) was a leader in the women's suffrage movement and an author.
• Charles King (academic), was an American academic, politician, newspaper editor and the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University).
• Charles King, was a United States soldier and a distinguished writer.
• James G. King, was an American businessman and Whig Party politician who represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. His daughter, Frederika Gore King, married Bancroft Davis.
• John Alsop King, was an American politician who served as governor (1857–1859) of New York.
• Rufus King, was a newspaper editor, educator, U.S. diplomat, and a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War.
• Rufus King, Jr., was an artillery officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a Medal of Honor recipient.
• Ellin Travers Mackay, 2nd wife of composer and lyricist, Irving Berlin.
• Alice Duer Miller, was an American writer and poet.
• Halsey Minor^[9] is a technology entrepreneur who founded CNET in 1993.
• Mary Alsop King Waddington, was an American author.
• Jane Wyatt, was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television series Father Knows Best and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television show, Star Trek.

See also[link]

• List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines
• U.S. Constitution, ratification debates, judiciary debates

Notes[link]

Primary sources[link]

• King Charles R. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 4 vol 1893-97
• Ernst, Robert. Rufus King: American Federalist. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1968
• Arbena, Joseph L. "Politics or Principle? Rufus King and the Opposition to Slavery, 1785-1825." Essex Institute Historical Collections (1965) 101(1): 56-77. ISSN 0014-0953
• Perkins, Bradford ; The First Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1795-1805 1955.

External links[link]

• Rufus King at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• King Manor Museum
• Historic House Trust of New York, King Manor Museum
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825
• The members of the 1st United States Congress (took seat on July 25, 1789)
• The members of the 4th United States Congress (resigned on May 23, 1796)

v t e Signers of the United States Constitution Baldwin Bassett Bedford Blair Blount Brearley Broom Butler Carroll Clymer Dayton Dickinson Few Fitzsimons Franklin Gilman Gorham Hamilton Ingersoll Jackson Jenifer Johnson King Langdon Livingston Madison McHenry Mifflin G. Morris R. Morris Paterson C. C. Pinckney C. Pinckney Read Rutledge Sherman Spaight Washington Williamson Wilson

v t e United States Senators from New York Class 1 Schuyler Burr Schuyler Hobart North Watson Morris Bailey Armstrong Mitchill German Sanford Van Buren Dudley Tallmadge Dickinson Fish P. King Morgan Fenton Kernan Platt Miller Hiscock Murphy Depew O'Gorman Calder Copeland Mead Ives Keating Kennedy Goodell Buckley Moynihan H. Clinton Gillibrand Class 3 R. King Laurance Armstrong D. Clinton Armstrong Smith R. King Sanford Marcy Wright Foster Dix Seward Harris Conkling Lapham Evarts Hill Platt Root Wadsworth Wagner Dulles Lehman Javits D'Amato Schumer

v t e United States Ambassadors to the United Kingdom Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1785–1811 John Adams 1785–1788 Thomas Pinckney 1792–1796 Rufus King 1796–1803 James Monroe 1803–1807 William Pinkney 1808–1811 Jonathan Russell (chargé d'affaires) 1811–1812 Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1815–1893 John Quincy Adams 1815–1817 Richard Rush 1818–1825 Rufus King 1825–1826 Albert Gallatin 1826–1827 James Barbour 1828–1829 Louis McLane 1829–1831 Martin Van Buren 1831–1832 Aaron Vail (chargé d'affaires) 1832–1836 Andrew Stevenson 1836–1841 Edward Everett 1841–1845 Louis McLane 1845–1846 George Bancroft 1846–1849 Abbott Lawrence 1849–1852 Joseph R. Ingersoll 1852–1853 James Buchanan 1853–1856 George M. Dallas 1856–1861 Charles Adams, Sr. 1861–1868 Reverdy Johnson 1868–1869 John Lothrop Motley 1869–1870 Robert C. Schenck 1871–1876 Edwards Pierrepont 1876–1877 John Welsh 1877–1879 James Russell Lowell 1880–1885 Edward J. Phelps 1885–1889 Robert Todd Lincoln 1889–1893 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's 1893–present Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. 1893–1897 John Hay 1897–1898 Joseph Choate 1899–1905 Whitelaw Reid 1905–1912 Walter Page 1913-1918 John W. Davis 1918–1921 George Harvey 1921–1923 Frank B. Kellogg 1924–1925 Alanson B. Houghton 1925–1929 Charles G. Dawes 1929–1931 Andrew W. Mellon 1932–1933 Robert Bingham 1933–1937 Joseph P. Kennedy 1938–1940 John G. Winant 1941–1946 W. Averell Harriman 1946 Lewis W. Douglas 1947–1950 Walter S. Gifford 1950–1953 Winthrop W. Aldrich 1953–1957 John Hay Whitney 1957–1961 David K. E. Bruce 1961–1969 Walter H. Annenberg 1969–1974 Elliot L. Richardson 1975–1976 Anne Armstrong 1976–1977 Kingman Brewster, Jr. 1977–1981 John J. Louis, Jr. 1981–1983 Charles H. Price II 1983–1989 Henry E. Catto, Jr. 1989–1991 Raymond G. H. Seitz 1991–1994 William J. Crowe 1994–1997 Philip Lader 1997–2001 William Stamps Farish III 2001–2004 Robert H. Tuttle 2005–2009 Louis Susman 2009–

Terry Porter

No. 30
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1963-04-08) April 8, 1963 (age 49) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality	American
High school	South Division (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
College	Wisconsin–Stevens Point (1981–1985)
NBA Draft	1985 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career	1985–2002
Career history
As player:
1985–1995	Portland Trail Blazers
1995–1998	Minnesota Timberwolves
1998–1999	Miami Heat
1999–2002	San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
2002–2003	Sacramento Kings (asst.)
2003–2005	Milwaukee Bucks
2008–2009	Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (1991, 1993) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1993) #30 Retired by the Portland Trail Blazers
Career NBA statistics
Points	15,586 (12.2 ppg)
Assists	7,160 (5.6 apg)
Steals	1,583 (1.2 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Terry Porter (born April 8, 1963) is an American professional basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[1] A native of Wisconsin, he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point before being drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 NBA Draft. In Portland he played ten seasons with two All-Star Game appearances, and spent 17 years in the NBA as a player. Following his retirement as a player in 2002, he began coaching in the league and has twice been a head coach, first with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks, and then with the Phoenix Suns up until February 16, 2009.

Early life[link]

Porter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 8, 1963. Porter played prep basketball, as a forward, at Milwaukee's South Division High School.

College career[link]

Porter attended college at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (The Pointers), a Division III school. He played under head coach Dick Bennett, and with Brad Soderberg (who later became the head coach at Saint Louis University).

In four seasons at Stevens Point, Porter averaged 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, and shot 58.9 percent from the floor.^[2] As a junior he averaged 18.8 points and shooting over 65 percent from the floor.^[3] Twice with the Pointers, as both a junior and a senior, he was named an NAIA First-Team All-American. As a junior he was named the NAIA "Player of the Year", and in the 1984 NAIA tournament, he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player even though the Pointers lost the national championship to Fort Hays State.

After the 1984 tournament, Porter was the only NAIA player to be invited to the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team trials. (A team included Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, Chris Mullin, and Steve Alford.) 72 players were invited to the trials, led by head coach Bob Knight. At the trials he said: "I'm sure a lot of guys might have been surprised to see me here, I didn't even expect to get invited. This competition is a whole notch up from what I'm used to. I feel kind of in awe".^[4] Porter made it to the final 20 (even though he had the chicken pox^[5]), but on a team that was heavy on guards (Jordan, Alford, Vern Fleming, Alvin Robertson, and Leon Wood), Porter was cut on May 13, 1984 along with Charles Barkley and John Stockton.

After the Olympic trials NBA scouts began to notice Porter for his "tight defensive play, nonstop hustle and deft shooting touch". He commented: "I wasn't much good in high school, so the big schools didn't come after me. But I guess I've improved a lot at Point". After three seasons at shooting guard (or 2G) he moved to the point guard (PG) position.^[3]

Following his senior season, where he averaged 19.7 points and 4.3 assists per-game, he was the only Division III player named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches-Valvoline All-America Game.^[6] He was also the only NAIA player named to the Aloha Basketball All-Star Classic, where he was named to the all-tournament team (along with Detlef Schrempf, Harold Keeling, Xavier McDaniel, and Joe Dumars), and as "top defensive player" and co-MVP.^[7][8]

Porter returned to Wisconsin–Stevens Point to finish his degree in communications, obtained in 1993, with an emphasis in television and radio.^[9] He was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.^[10]

NBA playing career[link]

Going in to the 1985 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls,^[11] Atlanta Hawks,^[12] Golden State Warriors,^[13] and San Antonio Spurs,^[14] all looked to draft Porter. Most pundits, including Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, projected him going to the Houston Rockets with the 19th pick in the draft,^[15] while Jan Hubbard of the Dallas Morning News had him going to the Detroit Pistons with the number 18 pick.^[16] And he was considered the second best choice at point guard, behind Sam Vincent, out of Michigan State.^[17]

On June 18, 1985 the Portland Trail Blazers selected Porter with the 24th overall pick in the NBA Draft. Porter slipped from the projected 18th or 19th pick while other guards, Joe Dumars (18th by the Pistons), Steve Harris (19th by the Rockets), and Sam Vincent (20th by the Celtics), went ahead of him.

During his decade-long tenure in Portland, Porter went to the NBA Finals twice and continues to hold the NBA Finals single-game record for the most free throws made, none missed—15 (June 7, 1990 at Detroit). He was the recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1993, and remains as the Trail Blazers' all-time assists leader with 5,319. Porter signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the 1995-96 season and helped the Wolves clinch their first-ever playoff berth in 1996-97 and their first winning season the following year.

He signed with the Miami Heat before the 1998-99 campaign, and signed with the San Antonio Spurs prior to the 1999-2000 season. He retired after the 2001-02 season, having never been traded during his NBA career. Porter’s teams compiled a record of 815-547 (.598) during his career, and only once failed to make the postseason.

In 1,274 career games, Porter averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 assists and 1.24 steals during a career that included two All-Star berths (1991, 1993), two trips to the NBA Finals (1990, 1992) and 15,586 career points. He is 12th on the NBA’s all-time assist list (7,160). Porter has played for five of the top 36 coaches (games won) in NBA history: Pat Riley (1,210), Rick Adelman (945), Jack Ramsay (864), Gregg Popovich (797) and Flip Saunders (636).

On December 16, 2008, the Trail Blazers retired Porter's #30 jersey.

NBA coaching career[link]

Porter spent the 2002–03 season as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings, his first season in coaching.

On August 6, 2003, the Milwaukee native was hired as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. He was the eighth head coach in franchise history. He coached the Bucks for two years, leading a team which was expected to wind up in the playoffs after landing in the NBA draft lottery. However, the Bucks failed to make the playoffs the next season, and Porter was released during the 2005 offseason.

After a year away from the game, Porter joined the Detroit Pistons staff as an assistant coach for the 2006–07 season.

On June 9, 2008, Porter was named the 13th head coach of the Phoenix Suns, succeeding Mike D'Antoni.^[18] On February 16, 2009, the Suns fired him after 51 games, and replaced him with assistant Alvin Gentry. The Suns had a 28-23 record, ninth in the Western Conference, with Porter.^[19]

On December 6, 2011, he was hired as an assistant coach by the Minnesota Timberwolves under Rick Adelman.^[1]

Coaching record[link]

Other sports and business interests[link]

In 2006, Porter led an investor group attempting to purchase the then-troubled Portland Trail Blazers from owner Paul Allen. Porter teamed with Rob Kremer, a local talk-show personality and former investment banker, and Todd Stucky, a local businessman and longtime Porter friend, to raise the necessary capital to buy the team. Porter's buyout team was joined by George Postolos, who had recently resigned as CEO of the Houston Rockets, and who brought with him a lead investor to round out the Porter investor team package. After the 2006 draft in which the Trail Blazers significantly upgraded their personnel through a series of trades by Blazer executive Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen appeared to renew his interest in the team, and removed it from the market.

Porter joined the Trail Blazers television broadcasting team before the start of the 2010–2011 season.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Porter, the youngest of six children, is an avid golfer. He and his wife Susie have three children - Brianna, Franklin and Malcolm. Throughout his career, Porter has been active with the Boys and Girls Club and is a member of the organization's Hall of Fame. In 1994, he created the Milwaukee Scholars Fund, which provides scholarships to minority students in Milwaukee to attend schools in the University of Wisconsin System.

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]