Imperial salted-paper print, 1857, Brady photographed Cass on several occasions, including this majestic portrait, made around the time he joined Buchanan's cabinet.

Born in Execter, New Hampshire on October 9, 1782. He attended Exeter Academy; where he was a schoolmate of Daniel Webster.

In 1799 after graduation he taught school in Wilmington, Delaware. He moved to Marietta, Ohio, in 1800 and studied law. He entered the practice of law in 1802, and later moved to Zanesville, Ohio, where he met and married Elizabeth Spencer.

In 1806 he became a member of the Ohio state legislature, and was U.S. marshal for Ohio from 1807 to 1812.

In the War of 1812. He was appointed colonel of the 3d Ohio Regiment and served with Generals Hull and Harrison in operations in the Old Northwest he was commissioned a colonel and then brigadier general in the Regular Army in 1813. Cass's command was included, against his will, in the forces that General William Hull surrendered to the British at Detroit in Aug., 1812. He held joint command with Harrison of the Eighth Military District and participated in the Battle of the Thames; On October 5, 1813, at the Battle of Thames, American forces crossed into Canada across Lake Erie after the American victory on the lake. British forces, under General Proctor, were forced to withdraw, with American forces following closely. The American forces caught up with the British and Indians, and decisively defeated them. Tecumseh, the Indian chief, was killed in the battle. Cass later fought with distinction. Left in command at Detroit, Cass was also appointed governor of The Michigan Territory, a post he filled ably for 18 years from 1813 to 1831. During his tenure, Cass amassed a personal fortune, secured the territory around the Great Lakes, built roads, and negotiated treaties with the Chippewa and other Indian tribes.

He steered Michigan to statehood and designed the state's Coat of Arms. He founded the Historical Society of Michigan in 1828. He served as secretary of war under Andrew Jackson,(1831-1836). As Secretary of War, he favored removal of the Native Americans beyond the Mississippi and supported President Jackson in the nullification crisis. In 1836 President Andrew Jackson named him Minister to France and he held that post from (1836-1842).

In 1848 he was the Democratic nominee for President, though he lost to Zachary Taylor.

In 1857 President James Buchanan named him secretary of state, a position he relished, but in 1860 he resigned to protest Buchanan's failure to secure the Union forts in the Charleston Harbor. Upon his resignation he returned to his home in Detroit and continued to write in retirement on Indian and Western subjects, he died there on June 17 1866. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.