Representative Joel Roberts Poinsett

Joel Roberts Poinsett served as a Representative from South Carolina in the United States Congress from 1821 to 1827. A member of the Unknown Party, Joel Roberts Poinsett contributed to the legislative process during 3 terms in office.

Joel Roberts Poinsett’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Joel Roberts Poinsett participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician, botanist, politician, and diplomat. He was the first U.S. agent in Hispanic America, a member of the South Carolina Legislature, and later a United States Representative from 1821 to 1825. In 1825, he was appointed by John Quincy Adams as the first United States Minister to Mexico, replacing envoy James Wilkinson, and serving through the first year of Andrew Jackson’s administration in 1829. He represented the United States government to the First Mexican Empire, the Provisional Government, and the First Mexican Republic in Mexico City. Poinsett was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson and Jacksonian democracy. He was a Unionist leader in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis in 1832 and 1833, when the state refused to enforce federal tariffs, declaring them unconstitutional. Poinsett was subsequently appointed 15th U.S. Secretary of War in the Presidential Cabinet under Martin Van Buren. He was a co-founder of the earlier National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts in 1840, a predecessor of the modern Smithsonian Institution.