Albert Gallatin (1761-1849) Geneva’s American Statesman

Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), Born of an old family’of Geneva, left his hometown at the age of nineteen to discover America and get a taste of freedom. Even through he lived in the back country of Pennsylvania, his political career progressed rapidly, first as a congressman, then as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison. Discipline and restraint in public finances were his trademarks. To finish the war of 1812 with Great Britain, Gallatin was charged with negotiating the Treaty of Ghent, signed in 1814. The President called upon him to Minister to Paris, then to London. His years of retirement were filled with intensive activity: Gallatin chaired a bank, founded a university and undertook research into languages of Native American tribes.

Benedict vonTscharner, born 1937 at Trub (Berne); Doctor at Law, University of Basle; former ambassador of Switzerland (Brussels EU, Vienna OSCE, Paris); Chairman, Foundation for the History of the Swiss Abroad.

The Museum of the Swiss Abroad