William M. Evarts

William M. Evarts served as Secretary of State under Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1881. A prominent New York lawyer, he had defended Andrew Johnson in the impeachment proceedings, briefly served as attorney general, and represented Republican interests before the commission that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election. His earlier international work included legal and diplomatic efforts connected with Britain and the Confederate cruisers. ¹

Evarts initially withheld recognition from Porfirio Díaz’s government in Mexico while seeking security along the border. American orders permitting troops to cross into Mexico in pursuit of raiders aggravated the dispute; recognition and the eventual withdrawal of those orders helped ease the confrontation. The episode combined questions of governmental legitimacy with demands for protection of lives and property. ¹

In relations with China, Evarts’s department negotiated changes to the Burlingame Treaty that allowed restrictions on Chinese immigration. The revised framework marked a retreat from the earlier commitment to freer movement and prepared the way for exclusion legislation. His efforts to mediate the War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia failed to produce a settlement. Evarts left the department with Hayes and subsequently served in the Senate. His diplomacy often relied on legal agreements, but domestic hostility to Chinese immigration and military conflicts in the Americas constrained the settlements he could achieve. ¹