Gresham, Walter Quintin

views updated

Walter Quintin Gresham (grĕsh´əm), 1832–95, American public official, b. Harrison co., Ind. A lawyer, he entered politics as a Whig and helped organize the Republican party. President Grant appointed (1869) him district judge in Indiana, and President Arthur chose him as postmaster general (1883) and secretary of the treasury (1884), but he was soon made circuit judge (1884). Gresham supported Grover Cleveland on the tariff issue in 1892 and declined the Populist nomination for President. He served (1893–95) ably as secretary of state under President Cleveland.

See biography by his wife, Matilda Gresham (1919, repr. 1970).

More From encyclopedia.com