George Mifflin Dallas (10 July 1792 – 31 December 1864) was Vice President of the United States from 4 March 1845 to 4 March 1849, succeeding John Tyler and preceding Millard Fillmore. He previously served as a US Senator from Pennsylvania (D) from 13 December 1831 to 3 March 1833, succeeding Isaac D. Barnard and preceding Samuel McKean.
Biography[]
George Mifflin Dallas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1792, the son of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas. He attended elite preparatory schools before embarking on a legal career, and he served as private secretary to Albert Gallatin before working for the Treasury Department and the Second Bank of the United States. From 1828 to 1829, he served as Mayor of Philadelphia (succeeding Joseph Watson and preceding Benjamin Wood Richards), US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He also served in the US Senate from 1831 to 1833, finishing Isaac D. Barnard's term. From 1837 to 1839, he served as ambassador to Russia, and, despite backing Martin Van Buren's hopes for a second term in 1844, he was nominated as James K. Polk's running mate, and they won the election. Dallas supported expansion and popular sovereignty, and he called for the annexation of all of Mexico during the Mexican-American War. However, his vote to lower the tariff destroyed his support base in his home state ahead of the 1848 presidential election, and he served as ambassador to Britain from 1856 to 1861 before retiring.