In
office
January 1, 1852 – March 7, 1853
Robert McClelland (August 1, 1807 –
August 30, 1880) was a U.S. statesman, serving as U.S.
Representative from Michigan, the ninth Governor of Michigan, and
United States Secretary of the Interior.
McClelland became a member of the Michigan bar and established a
successful law practice in Monroe, and he was a member of the
constitutional convention in 1835. After Michigan became a state,
Governor Stevens T. Mason offered the positions of state Bank
Commissioner and state Attorney General, both of which he declined
in order to develop his private practice, although he maintained an
active role in the new state's Democratic Party. In 1836,
McClelland married Sarah Elizabeth Sabine, with whom he had six
children.
McClelland served on the board of regents of the University of
Michigan in 1837 and again in 1850. He represented Monroe County in
the Michigan House of Representatives in 1838, 1840 and was speaker
of the house in 1843. He served as the mayor of Monroe in 1841. He
was elected in 1842 as U.S. Representative from Michigan's 1st
congressional district, serving from 1843 to 1849 in the 28th,
29th, and 30th Congresses. Going against the general opinion of the
Democratic Party, he was a strong advocate of the Wilmot Proviso,
which would have restricted the spread of slavery to new states. He
was active in supporting his friend Lewis Cass's unsuccessful run
for President in 1848 and did not seek reelection in that
year.
McClelland played a prominent role in the Michigan's constitutional
convention of 1850. Due to changes adopted in that constitution, he
was elected to a one-year term as Governor of Michigan in 1851. He
was re-elected to a full two-year term in 1852. During his tenure,
he softened his support of the Wilmot Proviso and instead urged
support for the Compromise of 1850. He played a prominent role at
the national Democratic convention of 1852. He resigned as governor
in March 1853 to become the Secretary of the Interior under
Franklin Pierce, and was succeeded by his second Lieutenant
Governor Andrew Parsons.
