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{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1845 to 1849}}
{{otherpeople|George Dallas}}
{{About|the vice president of the United States|the judge|George M. Dallas (judge)}}
{{Infobox_Vice_President
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=George M. Dallas
| imagename = George MifflinM. Dallas.jpg
| image = George Mifflin Dallas 1848 crop.jpg
| nationality=american
| caption = Dallas, 1848
| order=11th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| office = 11th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| term_start=[[March 4]], [[1845]]
| president = [[James K. Polk]]
| term_end=[[March 4]], [[1849]]*
| term_start = March 4, 1845
| predecessor=[[John Tyler]]
| term_end = March 4, 1849
| successor=[[Millard Fillmore]]
| predecessor = [[John Tyler]]
| birth_date=[[July 10]], [[1792]]
| successor = [[Millard Fillmore]]
| birth_place=[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
| minister_from1 = United States
| death_date=[[December 31]], [[1864]]
| country1 = the United Kingdom
| death_place=[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
| president1 = [[Franklin Pierce]]<br />[[James Buchanan]]<br />[[Abraham Lincoln]]
| spouse=[[Sophia Nicklin Dallas]]
| term_start1 = April 4, 1856
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| term_end1 = May 16, 1861
| presidents=[[James Knox Polk]]
| predecessor1 = James Buchanan
| successor1 = [[Charles Francis Adams Sr.]]
| minister_from2 = United States
| country2 = Russia
| president2 = [[Martin Van Buren]]
| term_start2 = August 6, 1837
| term_end2 = July 29, 1839
| predecessor2 = [[John Randolph Clay]]
| successor2 = [[Churchill C. Cambreleng]]
| office3 = 17th [[Pennsylvania Attorney General|Attorney General of Pennsylvania]]
| governor3 = [[George Wolf]]
| term_start3 = October 14, 1833
| term_end3 = December 1, 1835
| predecessor3 = [[Ellis Lewis]]
| successor3 = [[James Todd (lawyer)|James Todd]]
| jr/sr4 = United States Senator
| state4 = [[Pennsylvania]]
| term_start4 = December 13, 1831
| term_end4 = March 3, 1833
| predecessor4 = [[Isaac D. Barnard]]
| successor4 = [[Samuel McKean]]
| office6 = 58th [[List of mayors of Philadelphia|Mayor of Philadelphia]]
| term_start6 = October 21, 1828
| term_end6 = April 15, 1829
| predecessor6 = [[Joseph Watson (mayor)|Joseph Watson]]
| successor6 = [[Benjamin Wood Richards]]
| office5 = [[United States Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania|Eastern District of Pennsylvania]]
| president5 = [[Andrew Jackson]]
| term_start5 = April 15, 1829
| term_end5 = December 13, 1831
| predecessor5 = [[Charles Jared Ingersoll]]
| successor5 = [[Henry D. Gilpin]]
| birth_name = George Mifflin Dallas
| birth_date = {{birth date|1792|7|10}}
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1864|12|31|1792|7|10}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| restingplace = [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|St. Peter's Episcopal Church]] in [[Philadelphia]]
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Sophia Dallas|Sophia Nicklin]]|1816}}
| children = 8
| parents = {{ubl|[[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander J. Dallas]]|Arabella Smith}}
| relatives = [[Alexander J. Dallas (United States Navy officer)|Alexander J. Dallas]] (brother)
| education = [[Princeton University|College of New Jersey]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| signature = George M Dallas-2signature.svg
| signature_alt = Cursive signature in ink
}}
 
'''George Mifflin Dallas''' ([[July 10]], [[1792]] [[ December 31]], [[1864]]) was aan American politician and diplomat who served as the 11th [[Unitedvice Statespresident Senate|U.S.of Senatorthe United States]] from 1845 to 1849. He also served as the [[Pennsylvaniamayor of Philadelphia]] from 1828 to 1829, and theas elevenththe [[ViceUnited PresidentStates ofMinister to the United StatesKingdom|ViceU.S. PresidentMinister to the United Kingdom]], servingfrom under1856 [[Jamesto K1861. PolkDallas is possibly the namesake of [[Dallas|Dallas, Texas]].
 
Born in [[Philadelphia]], Dallas was a son of [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Secretary]] [[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander J. Dallas]], and studied law in his father's office and was admitted to the bar in 1813. He served as the private secretary to [[Albert Gallatin]] and worked for the Treasury Department and the [[Second Bank of the United States]]. He emerged as a leader of the Family Party faction of the [[Pennsylvania]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Dallas developed a rivalry with [[James Buchanan]], the leader of the Amalgamator faction. Between 1828 and 1835, he served as the mayor of Philadelphia, [[United States Attorney|U.S. attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania|U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania]] and as Pennsylvania's attorney general. He also represented Pennsylvania in the [[United States Senate]] from 1831 to 1833 but declined to seek re-election. President [[Martin Van Buren]] appointed Dallas to the post of [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Russia|Minister to Russia]], and Dallas held that position from 1837 to 1839.
Dallas was born in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now [[Princeton University]]) in 1810. He was admitted to the bar in 1813, and served as private secretary to [[Albert Gallatin]], [[Political minister|Minister]] to [[Russia]]. Dallas returned in 1814 and practiced law in [[New York, New York|New York City]]. He was solicitor of the [[Second Bank of the United States]] from 1816 to 1817.
 
In 1840, Dallas was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?year=1840;year-max=1840;smode=advanced;startDoc=21|access-date=April 9, 2021|publisher=American Philosophical Society|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413210041/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?year=1840;year-max=1840;smode=advanced;startDoc=21|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dallas supported Van Buren's bid for another term in the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 presidential election]], but [[James K. Polk]] won the party's presidential nomination. The [[1844 Democratic National Convention]] nominated Dallas as Polk's running mate, and Polk and Dallas defeated the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] ticket in the general election. A supporter of expansion and [[popular sovereignty]], Dallas called for the annexation of [[All of Mexico Movement|all of Mexico]] during the [[Mexican–American War]]. He sought to position himself for contention in the [[1848 United States presidential election|1848 presidential election]], but his vote to lower the tariff destroyed his base of support in his home state. Dallas served as the [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|Minister to the United Kingdom]] from 1856 to 1861 before retiring from public office.
He returned to Philadelphia and was appointed deputy attorney general in 1817. He was mayor of Philadelphia from [[October 21]], [[1828]] to [[April 15]], [[1829]]. Dallas was United States Attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania from 1829 to 1831.
 
==Family and early life==
He was elected as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]] to the [[United States Senate]] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[Isaac D. Barnard]] and served from [[December 13]], [[1831]] to [[March 4]], [[1833]], when he declined to be a candidate for reelection. He was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs.
Dallas was born in [[Philadelphia]] on July 10, 1792, to [[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander James Dallas]] and Arabella Maria Smith Dallas.<ref name=USSBio/> His father, of Scottish descent,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0LAOkIqQH0C&dq=george+M.+Dallas+scotland&pg=PA710 | isbn=978-1-61640-070-5 | title=The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology: Clu-hys | date=January 2010 | publisher=Cosimo }}</ref> born in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], Jamaica, to Dr. Robert Dallas and educated in [[Edinburgh]], was the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] under [[United States President]] [[James Madison]], and was also briefly the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]].<ref name=USSBio>{{cite web | title = George Mifflin Dallas, 11th Vice President (1845–1849) | url = https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Dallas.htm}}</ref> Dr Dallas left Jamaica in 1764, having mortgaged his estate, Dallas Castle, and put it in a trust. This property included 900 acres and 91 slaves.<ref>Ashcroft, Michael (1975). "Robert Charles Dalles identified as the author of an anonymous book about Jamaica". ''Jamaica Journal''. 9 (1): 94–101.</ref><ref>University College London, ''Legacies of British Slave-Ownership'' https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146651101 Retrieved 10 November 2020.</ref> George Dallas was given his middle name after [[Thomas Mifflin]], another politician who was good friends with his father.<ref name=Belohlavek109>Belohlavek. "George Mifflin Dallas", p. 109.</ref>
His mother, Arabella Smith, was English, born in [[England]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7zOEAAAQBAJ&q=Arabella%20 | isbn=978-1-56750-813-0 | title=Biographical Dictionary of the United States Secretaries of the Treasury, 1789-1995 | date=9 December 1996 | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA }}</ref>
 
Dallas was the second of six children,<ref name=USSBio/> another of whom, [[Alexander J. Dallas (United States Navy officer)|Alexander]], would become the commander of [[Pensacola Navy Yard]]. During Dallas' childhood, the family lived in a mansion on Fourth Street, with a second home in the countryside, situated on the [[Schuylkill River]]. He was educated privately at Quaker-run [[University-preparatory school|preparatory schools]], before studying at the College of New Jersey (now [[Princeton University]]), from which he graduated with highest honors in 1810.<ref name=Belohlavek109/> While at College, he participated in several activities, including the [[American Whig–Cliosophic Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=Princetonian19750725-01.2.174&srpos=7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-dallas----# |title=Daily Princetonian – Special Class of 1979 Issue 25 July 1975 — Princeton Periodicals |publisher=Theprince.princeton.edu |date=1975-07-25 |access-date=2013-04-19}}</ref> Afterwards, he [[reading law|studied law]] in his father's office, and he was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1813.<ref name=USSBio/>
Dallas resumed the practice of law. He was attorney general of Pennsylvania from 1833 to 1835, and served as the Grand Master of [[Freemasons]] in Pennsylvania in 1835 [http://www.pagrandlodge.org/gmaster/history/1835dallas027.html]. He was appointed by President [[Martin Van Buren]] as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia from 1837 to 1839, when he was recalled at his own request. He was elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1844 with [[James K. Polk]] and served from [[March 4]], [[1845]] to [[March 4]], [[1849]].
 
==Early legal, diplomatic and financial service==
Dallas was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] by President [[Franklin Pierce]] from 1856 to 1861, when he returned to Philadelphia, and died there. He is interred in St. Peter's Churchyard. The city of [[Dallas, Texas]] (and [[Dallas (disambiguation)|others]]) is believed to be named in his (or his relatives') honor.
[[File:Thomas Sully - George Mifflin Dallas, Class of 1810 (1792-1864) - PP188 - Princeton University Art Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Portrait of Dallas by [[Thomas Sully]], 1810]]
As a new graduate, Dallas had little enthusiasm for legal practice; he wanted to fight in the [[War of 1812]], a plan that he dropped due to his father's objection.<ref name=USSBio/> Just after this, Dallas accepted an offer to be the private secretary of [[Albert Gallatin]], and he went to [[Russia]] with Gallatin who was sent there to try to secure its aid in peace negotiations between Great Britain and the United States.<ref name=USSBio/> Dallas enjoyed the opportunities offered to him by being in Russia, but after six months there he was ordered to go to [[London]] to determine whether the War of 1812 could be resolved diplomatically.<ref name=USSBio/> In August 1814, he arrived in [[Washington, D.C.]], and delivered a preliminary draft of Britain's peace terms.<ref name=USSBio/> There, he was appointed by James Madison to become the remitter of the treasury, which is considered a "convenient arrangement" because Dallas' father was serving at the time as that department's secretary.<ref name=USSBio/> Since the job did not entail a large workload, Dallas found time to develop his grasp of politics, his major vocational interest.<ref name=USSBio/> He later became the counsel to the [[Second Bank of the United States]].<ref name=USSBio/> In 1817, Dallas' father died, ending Dallas' plan for a family law practice, and he stopped working for the Second Bank of the United States and became the deputy attorney general of Philadelphia, a position he held until 1820.<ref name=USSBio/>
 
==Political career==
Dallas was the son of [[U.S. Treasury Secretary]] [[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander J. Dallas]] and is the great-great-granduncle of [[U.S. Senator]] [[Claiborne Pell]] of [[Rhode Island]]. He is also the uncle of [[Alexander Dallas Bache]].
[[File:Polk Dallas campaign banner.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Polk/Dallas campaign poster]]
After the [[War of 1812]], Pennsylvania's political climate was chaotic, with two factions vying for control of the state's Democratic Party.<ref name=USSBio/> Dallas led the Philadelphia-based "Family Party", which asserted that the [[Constitution of the United States]] was supreme, and that an energetic national government should implement protective tariffs and a powerful central banking system, and undertake internal improvements to the country in order to facilitate national commerce.<ref name=USSBio/> The other faction was called the "Amalgamators", headed by the future President [[James Buchanan]].<ref name=USSBio/>
 
He was elected mayor of Philadelphia as the candidate of the Family Party, after the party had gained control of the city councils.<ref name=USSBio/> However, he quickly grew bored with that post, and became the [[United States Attorney]] for the eastern district of Pennsylvania in 1829, a position his father had held from 1801 to 1814, and continued in that role until 1831.<ref name=USSBio/> In December of that year, he won a five-man, eleven-ballot [[United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania, 1831|contest in the state legislature]] for [[United States Senate|Senator]] from Pennsylvania, to complete the unexpired term of [[Isaac D. Barnard]], who had resigned.<ref name=USSBio/>
== External links ==
 
Dallas served less than fifteen months, from 13 December 1831 to 3 March 1833. He was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. Dallas did not seek re-election, in part due to a [[Bank War|fight over the Second Bank of the United States]], and in part because his wife did not want to leave Philadelphia for Washington.<ref name="senate"/>
*[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/george_dallas.pdf Vice Presidential Biography from the Senate Historical Office]
*[http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;rgn=full%20text;idno=ABJ4854.0001.001;didno=ABJ4854.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000003 A Series of Letters Written from London by George M. Dallas]
 
Dallas resumed the practice of law, and was Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1833 to 1835.
{{start box}}
{{succession box|title=[[Mayor of Philadelphia]]|before=[[Joseph Watson]]|after=[[Benjamin W. Richards]]|years=1828–1829}}
{{succession box|title=[[United States Attorney|U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]]|before=[[Charles Jared Ingersoll]]|after=[[Henry D. Gilpin]]|years=1829–1831}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of United States Senators from Pennsylvania|U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania]]|before=[[Isaac D. Barnard]]|after=[[Samuel McKean]]|years=1831–1833}}
{{succession box| title=[[Attorney General|Attorney General of Pennsylvania]]|before=Ellis Lewis|after=James Todd|years=1833–1835}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of United States Ambassadors to Russia|U.S. Minister to Russia]]|before=[[John R. Clay]]|after=[[Churchill C. Cambreleng]]|years=1837–1839}}
{{succession box| title=[[List of United States Democratic Party presidential tickets|Democratic Party vice presidential candidate]]| before=[[Richard Mentor Johnson]]|after=[[William Orlando Butler]]|years=[[U.S. presidential election, 1844|1844]] (won)}}
{{succession box|title=[[Vice President of the United States]]|before=[[John Tyler]]|after=[[Millard Fillmore]]| years=[[March 4]], [[1845]]–[[March 4]], [[1849]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom|U.S. Minister to Britain]]|before=[[James Buchanan]]|after=[[Charles Francis Adams, Sr.]]|years=1856–1861}}
{{end box}}
{{USDemVicePresNominees}}
{{US Vice Presidents}}
 
He was appointed by President [[Martin Van Buren]] as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1837, serving until 1839, when he was recalled at his own request. Dallas was then offered the post of [[United States Attorney General|US Attorney General]], but declined, and resumed his legal practice.<ref name="senate" /> In the lead-up to the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 presidential election]], Dallas supported Van Buren for the Democratic nomination over fellow Pennsylvanian James Buchanan.<ref name="senate" />
[[Category:1792 births|Dallas, George M.]]
 
[[Category:1864 deaths|Dallas, George M.]]
==Vice presidency (1845–1849)==
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees|Dallas, George M.]]
At the May [[1844 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Baltimore]], [[James K. Polk]] and [[Silas Wright]] were nominated as the Democratic ticket. However, Wright declined the nomination, and the delegates chose Dallas as his replacement. Dallas, who was not at the convention, was awakened at his home by convention delegates who had traveled to Philadelphia to tell him the news. Dallas somewhat reluctantly accepted the nomination. The Democratic candidates won the popular vote by a margin of 1.5%, and won the election with an electoral vote of 170 out of 275.<ref name="senate" />
[[Category:United States Senators from Pennsylvania|Dallas, George M.]]
 
[[Category:Vice Presidents of the United States|Dallas, George M.]]
During his time as vice president, Dallas was committed to advancing two major objectives: tariff reduction and territorial expansion. He had traditionally supported the protectionist tariff policy that his state's coal and iron interests demanded, but he agreed to do anything necessary to realize the goal of tariff reduction. Dallas equated the vice president's constitutional power to break tied votes in the Senate with the president's constitutional power to veto acts of Congress. At the end of his vice-presidential term, Dallas said he had cast thirty tie-breaking votes during his four years in office. However, he sought to avoid having to exercise his singular constitutional prerogative on the tariff issue, actively lobbying senators during the debate over Treasury Secretary Walker's tariff bill in the summer of 1846. Despite his efforts, the Senate completed its voting on the Walker Tariff with a 27-to-27 tie, and Dallas cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the tariff on July 28, 1846.
[[Category:Mayors of Philadelphia|Dallas, George M.]]
 
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States|Dallas, George M.]]
Dallas rationalized that he had studied the distribution of Senate support and concluded that backing for the measure came from all regions of the country. Additionally, the measure had overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, a body closer to public sentiment. While his action earned Dallas the respect of the president and certain party leaders—and possible votes in 1848 from the southern and western states that supported low tariffs—it effectively demolished his home state political base, ending any serious prospects for future elective office.
[[Category:United States ambassadors to Russia|Dallas, George M.]]
 
Dallas was influential as the presiding officer of the Senate, where he worked to support Polk's agenda and cast several tie-breaking votes. He called for the annexation of all of the Oregon Territory and all of Mexico during the Mexican–American War, but was satisfied with compromises that saw the United States annex parts of both areas. Though Dallas was unsuccessful in preventing Polk from appointing Buchanan as Secretary of State, he helped convince Polk to appoint Robert J. Walker as Secretary of the Treasury. As vice president, Dallas sought to maneuver himself into contention for the presidency in the 1848 election, as Polk had promised to serve only one term. However, Dallas' reluctant vote to lower a tariff destroyed much of his base in Pennsylvania, and his advocacy of popular sovereignty on the question of slavery strengthened opposition against him.
 
===Tariffs===
{{more sources|section|date=August 2023}}
Dallas determined that he would use his vice-presidential position to advance two of the administration's major objectives: tariff reduction and territorial expansion. As a Pennsylvanian, Dallas had traditionally supported the protectionist tariff policy that his state's coal and iron interests demanded. But as vice president, elected on a platform dedicated to tariff reduction, he agreed to do anything necessary to realize that goal. Dallas equated the vice president's constitutional power to break tied votes in the Senate with the president's constitutional power to veto acts of Congress. At the end of his vice-presidential term, Dallas said he had cast thirty tie-breaking votes during his four years in office (although only nineteen of these have been identified in Senate records). Taking obvious personal satisfaction in this record, Dallas singled out this achievement and the fairness with which he believed he accomplished it in his farewell address to the Senate. Not interested in political suicide, however, Dallas sought to avoid having to exercise his singular constitutional prerogative on the tariff issue, actively lobbying senators during the debate over Treasury Secretary Walker's tariff bill in the summer of 1846. He complained to his wife (whom he sometimes addressed as "Mrs. Vice") that the Senate speeches on the subject were "as vapid as inexhaustible&nbsp;... All sorts of ridiculous efforts are making, by letters, newspaper-paragraphs, and personal visits, to affect the Vice's casting vote, by persuasion or threat."
 
Despite Dallas' efforts to avoid taking a stand, the Senate completed its voting on the Walker Tariff with a 27-to-27 tie. (A twenty-eighth vote in favor was held in reserve by a senator who opposed the measure but agreed to follow the instructions of his state legislature to support it.) When he cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the tariff on July 28, 1846, Dallas rationalized that he had studied the distribution of Senate support and concluded that backing for the measure came from all regions of the country. Additionally, the measure had overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, a body closer to public sentiment. He apprehensively explained to the citizens of Pennsylvania that "an officer, elected by the suffrages of all twenty-eight states, and bound by his oath and every constitutional obligation, faithfully and fairly to represent, in the execution of his high trust, all the citizens of the Union" could not "narrow his great sphere and act with reference only to [Pennsylvania's] interests." While his action, based on a mixture of party loyalty and political opportunism, earned Dallas the respect of the president and certain party leaders—and possible votes in 1848 from the southern and western states that supported low tariffs—it effectively demolished his home state political base, ending any serious prospects for future elective office. (He even advised his wife in a message hand-delivered by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, "If there be the slightest indication of a disposition to riot in the city of Philadelphia, owing to the passage of the Tariff Bill, pack up and bring the whole brood to Washington.")
 
While Dallas' tariff vote destroyed him in Pennsylvania, his aggressive views on Oregon and the Mexican War crippled his campaign efforts elsewhere in the nation. In his last hope of building the necessary national support to gain the White House, the Vice President shifted his attention to the aggressive, expansionist foreign policy program embodied in the concept of "Manifest Destiny". He actively supported efforts to gain control of Texas, the Southwest, Cuba, and disputed portions of the Oregon territory.<ref name="senate" />
 
Dallas was influential as the presiding officer of the Senate, where he worked to support Polk's agenda and cast several [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by Vice Presidents of the United States|tie-breaking votes]]. Dallas called for the annexation of all of the [[Oregon Territory]] and [[All of Mexico Movement|all of]] Mexico during the [[Mexican–American War]], but was satisfied with compromises that saw the United States annex parts of both areas. Though Dallas was unsuccessful in preventing Polk from appointing Buchanan as Secretary of State, he helped convince Polk to appoint [[Robert J. Walker]] as Secretary of the Treasury. As vice president, Dallas sought to maneuver himself into contention for the presidency in the [[1848 United States presidential election|1848 election]], as Polk had promised to serve only one term. However, Dallas' reluctant vote to lower a tariff destroyed much of his base in Pennsylvania, and Dallas' advocacy of [[popular sovereignty]] on the question of slavery strengthened opposition against him.
 
==Post-vice presidency (1849–1864)==
[[File:Grave marker of US Vice President George Mifflin Dallas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Dallas' gravestone at [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|St. Peter's Episcopal]] churchyard in [[Philadelphia]]]]
 
In 1856, [[Franklin Pierce]] appointed Dallas minister to [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]]. He served in that post from February 4, 1856, until the appointment by President Lincoln of [[Charles Francis Adams Sr.|Charles F. Adams]], who relieved him on May 16, 1861. At the very beginning of his diplomatic service in Britain, he was called to act upon the Central American question and the US request that [[Sir John Crampton, 2nd Baronet|Sir John Crampton]], the British minister to the United States, should be recalled. Dallas managed these delicate questions in a conciliatory spirit, but without any sacrifice of national dignity, and both were settled amicably. In 1859, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|''Dred Scott'' decision]], Dallas refused [[Frederick Douglass]] a passport, on the grounds that Douglass was not a citizen; decades later, in [[Life and Times of Frederick Douglass|his autobiography]], Douglass remarked "This man is now dead and generally forgotten... but I have lived to see myself everywhere recognized as an American citizen." At the close of his diplomatic career, Dallas returned to private life. He took no further part in public affairs except to express condemnation of secession.<ref name="senate">{{cite web|title=George Mifflin Dallas, 11th Vice President (1845–1849)|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Dallas.htm|work=U.S. Senate: Art & History Home|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>
 
===Death===
Dallas returned to [[Philadelphia]], where he lived until his death from a [[heart attack]] on December 31, 1864, at the age of 72.<ref name=Belohlavek118>Belohlavek, "George Mifflin Dallas", p. 118.</ref> He is interred at [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|St. Peter's Episcopal]] churchyard in Philadelphia.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}
 
==Legacy==
[[Dallas County, Iowa]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=7266|title= Profile for Dallas County, Iowa, IA|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= September 2, 2012|archive-date= May 17, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153234/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=7266|url-status= dead}}</ref> and one of its cities, [[Dallas Center, Iowa]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.city-data.com/city/Dallas-Center-Iowa.html|title= Dallas Center, Iowa|publisher= City-Data.com|access-date= 2 September 2012}}</ref> were named for Dallas.
 
He was initiated into Freemasonry at Franklin Masonic Lodge #134 in Pennsylvania,<ref>{{cite web |title=Famous Freemasons in history |url=http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510153526/http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm |archive-date=10 May 2008 |website=Matawan Lodge No 192 F.A. & A.M., New Jersey |language=en}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3JDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA576 |title=Journal of the House Of Representatives |year=1837 |volume=47 (Part 2) |pages=576–577 |language=en |oclc=145380045 |quotation=Report upon the account of George M. Dallas, a witness attending before the committee appointed to inquire into the evils of Freemasonry, at the session of 1835-1836. |access-date=24 Oct 2018 }}</ref> and served as the Grand Master of Freemasons in Pennsylvania in 1835; his name is memorialized by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania among its Past Grand Masters.<ref name="Ref_a">{{cite web |title=George Mifflin Dallas – 1835 |url=http://www.pagrandlodge.org/gmaster/history/1835dallas027.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716211931/http://www.pagrandlodge.org/gmaster/history/1835dallas027.html |archive-date=2012-07-16 |access-date=2013-04-19 |publisher=Pagrandlodge.org}}</ref>
 
Dallas is also the namesake of [[Dallas County, Arkansas]], [[Dallas County, Missouri]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=20229|title= Profile for Dallas County, Missouri MO|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= September 2, 2012|archive-date= February 9, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130209074225/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=20229|url-status= dead}}</ref> and [[Dallas County, Texas]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=22632|title= Profile for Dallas County, Texas, TX|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-date= 4 December 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121204132132/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=22632|url-status= dead}}</ref>
 
Other U.S. cities and towns named in Dallas' honor include [[Dallas, Texas]],<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=22632|title= Profile for Dallas County, Texas, TX|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-date= 4 December 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121204132132/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=22632|url-status= dead}}</ref>
[[Dallas, Georgia]] (the county seat of [[Paulding County, Georgia]]),<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=7896|title= Profile for Dallas, Georgia, GA|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-date= 30 January 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130130054645/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=7896|url-status= dead}}</ref> [[Dallas, North Carolina]] (the former county seat of [[Gaston County, North Carolina]]),<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=19235|title= Profile for Dallas, North Carolina, NC|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-date= 30 January 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130130020741/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=19235|url-status= dead}}</ref> [[Dallas, Oregon]] (the county seat of [[Polk County, Oregon]])<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=15237|title= Profile for Dallas, Oregon, OR|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-date= 29 January 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130129173228/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=15237|url-status= dead}}</ref> and [[Dallastown, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=13813|title= Profile for Dallastown, Pennsylvania, PA|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= 2 September 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170701025525/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=13813|archive-date= 1 July 2017|url-status= dead}}</ref>
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |last1=Ambacher |first1=Bruce |title=George M. Dallas and the Bank War |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |date=1975 |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=116–135 |jstor=27772269}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Ambacher |first1=Bruce |title=George M. Dallas, Cuba, and the Election of 1856 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |date=1973 |volume=97 |issue=3 |pages=318–332 |jstor=20090763}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ambacher |first1=Bruce Irwin |title=George M. Dallas: Leader of the "Family" Party |date=1971 |publisher=Temple University}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Belohlavek |first1=John M. |title=Dallas, the Democracy, and the Bank War of 1832 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |date=1972 |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=377–390 |jstor=20090654}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Belohlavek |first1=John M. |title=The Democracy in a Dilemma: George M. Dallas, Pennsylvania, and the Election of 1844 |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |date=1974 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=390–411 |jstor=27772234}}
* {{cite book|last=Belohlavek|first=John|title=Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary|year=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438130712|pages=108–118|editor=L.Edward Purcell|chapter=George Mifflin Dallas}}
* "George Mifflin Dallas." ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set.'' American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936.
* Hatfield, Mark O. [https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/george_dallas.pdf George Mifflin Dallas.] ''Vice-Presidents of the United States, 1789–1983.'' Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1979.
* {{cite web
| title = George Mifflin Dallas, 11th Vice President (1845–1849)
| publisher = [[United States Senate]]
| url = https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Dallas.htm
| access-date = 2009-02-03}}
 
==External links==
{{EB1911 Poster|Dallas, George Mifflin|George M. Dallas}}
{{Portal|Biography|Pennsylvania|United States|History|Politics}}
* {{Biographical Directory of Congress|D000011|George Mifflin Dallas|author=|noid=y|inline=y}}
* [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;rgn=full%20text;idno=ABJ4854.0001.001;didno=ABJ4854.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000003 A Series of Letters Written from London by George M. Dallas]
* [http://technical.ly/philly/2014/11/19/bryn-mawr-college-wikipedia-edit/ Manuscript Diaries of George M. Dallas at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries]
* {{Biographical Directory of Congress|B000154|Isaac Dutton Barnard|author=|noid=y|inline=y}}
 
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