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{{Short description|American statesman (1835–1917)}}
{{other people|Richard Olney}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Richard Olney
|image = File:Secretary of State Richard Olney.jpg
|caption = Olney {{circa|1890}}
|office = 34th [[United States Secretary of State]]
|president = [[Grover Cleveland]]<br>[[William McKinley]]
|term_start = June 10, 1895
|term_end = March 5, 1897
|predecessor = [[Walter Q. Gresham]]
|successor = [[John Sherman]]
|office1 = 40th [[United States Attorney General]]
|president1 = [[Grover Cleveland]]
|term_start1 = March 6, 1893
|term_end1 = June 10, 1895
|predecessor1 = [[William H. H. Miller]]
|successor1 = [[Judson Harmon]]
|office2 = Member of the<br>[[Massachusetts House of Representatives]]<br>from the 2nd Norfolk district
|term_start2 = January 7, 1874
|term_end2 = January 6, 1875
|predecessor2 = Robert Seaver
|successor2 = Joseph S. Ropes
|birth_date = {{birth date|1835|9|15}}
|birth_place = [[Oxford, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1917|4|8|1835|9|15}}
|death_place = [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|resting_place= [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse = Agnes Park Thomas
|education = [[Brown University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}<br>[[Harvard University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])}}
|signature = Signature of Richard Olney (1835–1917).png
}}
'''Richard Olney''' (September 15, 1835 – April 8, 1917) was an American attorney, statesman, and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] politician who served as a member of the second cabinet of President [[Grover Cleveland]] as the 40th [[United States Attorney General]] from 1893 to 1895 and 34th [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] from 1895 to 1897.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=James Brown |date=1917 |title=In Memoriam: Richard Olney |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/in-memoriam-richard-olney/6138244858BEE9E35A561224F7993D30 |journal=American Journal of International Law |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=641–642 |doi=10.1017/S0002930000769533 |issn=0002-9300}}</ref>

As attorney general, Olney used injunctions against striking workers in the [[Pullman strike]], setting a precedent, and advised the use of federal troops, when legal means failed to control the strikers.

As Secretary of State, Olney mediated the [[Venezuelan crisis of 1895]] and managed Cleveland's anti-expansionist policy in response to the [[overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom]] and the [[Cuban War of Independence]], though both Hawaii and Cuba were annexed during the subsequent [[William McKinley administration]]. He raised the status of America in the world by elevating U.S. diplomatic posts to the status of [[embassy]].

== Early life and education ==
Olney was born into a prosperous family in [[Oxford, Massachusetts]]. His father was Wilson Olney, a textiles manufacturer and banker.<ref name="nyt-obit">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/10/102331307.pdf "Richard Olney Dies; Veteran Statesman"] (PDF) ''[[The New York Times]]'' (April 10, 1917), page 13. Retrieved April 6, 2011</ref> Shortly after his birth, the family moved to [[Louisville, Kentucky]], and lived there until Olney was seven. The family then moved back to Oxford and Olney attended school at the [[Leicester Academy]] in [[Leicester, Massachusetts]].<ref name="nyt-obit" />

He graduated with high honors as class orator from [[Brown University]] in 1856.<ref name="nyt-obit" /> He received a [[Bachelor of Laws]] degree from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1858.<ref name="nyt-obit" />

In 1859, he [[Admission to practice law|passed the bar]] and began practicing law in [[Boston]], attaining a reputation as an authority on [[probate law|probate]], [[trust law|trust]] and [[corporate law]].<ref name="nyt-obit" />

== Early career ==
[[File:1874 Richard E Olney Massachusetts House of Representatives.png|thumb|left|175px|Olney as a Massachusetts State Representative in 1874.]]
Olney was elected a selectman in [[West Roxbury, Massachusetts]] and served one term in the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] in 1874, serving as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary.<ref>{{cite book|title=Manual for Use of the General Court|year=1875|page=348|url=https://archive.org/details/manualforuseofge1874mass/page/348/mode/2up?q=Olney}}</ref> He declined to run again, preferring to return to his law practice.<ref name="nyt-obit" />

In 1876, Olney inherited his father-in-law's Boston law practice and became involved in the business affairs of Boston's elite families.<ref name="miller">[http://millercenter.org/president/cleveland/essays/cabinet/405 "Richard Olney (1895–1897): Secretary of State"] [[Miller Center of Public Affairs]] at the [[University of Virginia]]. Retrieved April 6, 2011</ref>

During the 1880s, Olney became one of the Boston's leading railroad attorneys<ref name="miller" /><ref name="wsj-1">Thomas Frank, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124580461065744913 "Obama and 'Regulatory Capture'"] ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (June 24, 2010). Retrieved April 5, 2011</ref> and the general counsel for [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad|Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway]].<ref>''Encyclopedia of Populism in America: A Historical Encyclopedia'' {{ISBN|978-1-59884-567-9}} p. 582</ref>

Olney was once asked by a former railroad employer if he could do something to get rid of the newly formed [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC). He suggested that the ICC would become a [[regulatory capture|captive regulator]], replying in an 1892 letter, "The Commission... is, or can be made, of great use to the railroads. It satisfies the popular clamor for a government supervision of the railroads, at the same time that that supervision is almost entirely nominal. Further, the older such a commission gets to be, the more inclined it will be found to take the business and railroad view of things... The part of wisdom is not to destroy the Commission, but to utilize it."<ref>{{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Marver H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jETWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA265|title=Regulating Business by Independent Commission|date=1955|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=265|isbn=9781400878789}} Letter by Richard Olney to Charles Perkins, President, Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, December 28, 1892.</ref>

== Attorney General ==
In March 1893, Olney became U.S. Attorney General and used the law to thwart strikes, which he considered an illegitimate tactic contrary to law.<ref name="miller" /> Olney argued that the government must prevent interference with its mails and with the general railway transportation between the states.

=== Pullman strike ===
During the [[Pullman Strike|1894 Pullman strike]], Olney instructed [[U.S. Attorney|district attorney]]s to secure from the Federal Courts [[writs of injunction]] against striking railroad employees.<ref name="nyt-indict">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/07/05/106911114.pdf "Orders Sent to Indict Debs"] (PDF) ''The New York Times'' (July 5, 1894). Retrieved April 6, 2011</ref> He ordered the Chicago district attorney to convene a [[grand jury]] to find cause to indict [[Eugene Debs]] and other labor leaders and sent [[federal marshal]]s to protect rail traffic, ordering 150 marshals deputized in [[Helena, Montana]] alone.<ref name="nyt-indict" />

When the legal measures failed, he advised President Cleveland to send federal troops to Chicago to quell the strike, over the objections of the Governor of Illinois.<ref name="miller" />

In comparison to his $8,000 compensation as Attorney General, Olney had been a railroad attorney and had a $10,000 retainer from the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. Olney got an injunction from circuit court justices [[Peter S. Grosscup]] and [[William Allen Woods]] (both anti-union) prohibiting ARU officials from "compelling or encouraging" any impacted railroad employees "to refuse or fail to perform any of their duties." The injunction was disobeyed by Debs and other ARU leaders, and federal forces were dispatched to enforce it. Debs, who had been hesitant to start the strike, put all of his efforts into it. He called on ARU members to ignore the federal court injunctions and the U.S. Army.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Pullman Strike {{!}} Causes, Result, Summary, & Significance {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Pullman-Strike |access-date=2021-12-16 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Secretary of State ==
Upon the death of Secretary of State [[Walter Q. Gresham]], Cleveland named Olney to the position on June 10, 1895.<ref name="miller" />

Olney quickly elevated US foreign diplomatic posts to the title of [[embassy]], officially raising the status of the United States to one of the world's greater nations. (Until then, the United States had had only Legations, which diplomatic protocol dictated be treated as inferior to embassies.)

Olney took a prominent role in [[Venezuelan crisis of 1895|the boundary dispute]] between the British and [[Venezuela]]n governments. In his correspondence with [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]], he gave an extended interpretation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] that went considerably beyond previous statements on the subject, now known as the [[Olney interpretation]].<ref name="SchlupRyan2003">{{cite book|last1=Schlup|first1=Leonard C.|last2=Ryan|first2=James Gilbert|title=Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhRqUo9HzVwC&pg=PA344|access-date=30 November 2017|year=2003|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=9780765621061|page=344}}</ref>

== Later years and death ==
[[File:Richard Olney, Bain bw photo portrait, 1913.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Olney {{circa|1913}}.]]
Olney returned to the practice of the law in 1897,<ref name="nyt-obit" /> at the expiration of Cleveland's term.

In March 1913, Olney turned down President Wilson's offer to be the US Ambassador to Great Britain,<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/03/16/100077085.pdf "Olney Refuses Offer of London Embassy"] (PDF) ''The New York Times'' (March 16, 1913), page 2. Retrieved April 6, 2011</ref> and later, in May 1914, when President Wilson offered Olney the Appointment as Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, he declined that appointment. Olney was unwilling to take on new responsibilities at his advanced age.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/05/06/100312633.pdf "Wilson Seeks Head of Reserve Board"] (PDF) ''The New York Times'' (May 6, 1914), page 14. Retrieved April 6, 2011</ref>

He died in 1917 at the age of 81.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/10/archives/richard-olney-dies-veteran-statesman-attorney-general-and-secretary.html | title=RICHARD OLNEY DIES; VETERAN STATESMAN; Attorney General and Secretary of State in Cleveland's Second Term Expires in Boston at 81. UPHELD MONROE DOCTRINE His Demand Upon Great Britain Led to Her Arbitration of the Venezuelan Boundary Dispute. His Settlement of Mora Claim. Introduced by Cleveland. The "Silent Statesman." Offered Ambassadorship | work=The New York Times | date=April 10, 1917 }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
In 1861, Olney married Agnes Park Thomas of Boston, Massachusetts.<ref name="nyt-obit" />

Olney was the uncle of Massachusetts Congressman [[Richard Olney II]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Author [[H. W. Brands|H.W. Brands]] recounts claims that Olney "responded to a daughter's indiscretion by banishing her from his home, never to see her again, although they lived in the same city for thirty years."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brands|first=H.W.|title=Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines|pages=18}}</ref>

=== Honors ===
Olney received the honorary degree of [[LL.D]] from Harvard and Brown in 1893 and from [[Yale University]] in 1901.<ref name="nyt-obit" /> He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1897.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Richard+Olney&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>{{EB1911 poster|Olney, Richard}}

{{Portal|United States|Biography
}}

== References ==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Olney, Richard|volume=20|page=91}}
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Grenville, John A. S. and George Berkeley Young. ''Politics, Strategy, and American Diplomacy: Studies in Foreign Policy, 1873-1917'' (1966) pp 158–78 on "Grover Cleveland, Richard Olney, and the Venezuelan Crisis"
* Young, George B. "Intervention Under the Monroe Doctrine: The Olney Corollary," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' 57#2 (1942), pp. 247–280 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2143553 in JSTOR]

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
| before = [[William H. H. Miller]]
| after = [[Judson Harmon]]
| years = 1893–1895
| president = [[Grover Cleveland]]
| department = Attorney General}}
{{s-off}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
| before=[[Walter Q. Gresham]]
| after=[[John Sherman (politician)|John Sherman]]
| years= 1895–1897
| president= Grover Cleveland
| department= Secretary of State}}
{{s-end}}
{{USAttGen}}
{{USSecState}}
{{Cleveland 24 cabinet}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olney, Richard}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:Brown University alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]]
[[Category:People from Oxford, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Attorneys general of the United States]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of state]]
[[Category:Cleveland administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]]

Richard Olney - Revision history

imported>45dogs: Reverted 1 edit by 156.19.83.214 (talk) to last revision by 45dogs