Attorney General: William Wirt
William Wirt was born in Bladensburg, Maryland, on November 8, 1772. He was educated in private schools and for a time worked as a private tutor. He later studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1792. Wirt practiced law privately for several years, became clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1800, and in 1802, was chancellor of Virginia’s Eastern District. In 1807, he was appointed prosecuting attorney in the treason trial of Aaron Burr by President Thomas Jefferson. In 1816, President James Madison appointed Wirt as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Virginia.
In 1817, President James Monroe appointed Wirt as Attorney General of the United States, a position he went on to hold for 12 years, becoming the longest-serving Attorney General. In 1831, Wirt accepted the nomination of the Anti-Masonic Party for the presidency of the United States but did not win the election. Wirt authored several books during his life, including Letters of a British Spy (1803) and Sketches from the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817). Wirt practiced law privately until his death in Washington, D.C., on February 18, 1834.
Charles Bird King was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He studied under Edward Savage in New York City and then in London under Benjamin West from 1805 to 1812. Returning to the United States, he spent several years in Philadelphia and Baltimore before settling in Washington, D.C., for the rest of his life. King is especially noted for his portraits of Native Americans. He painted Attorney General Wirt's portrait in 1857 and died in 1862.