Judah P. Benjamin

Judah Philip Benjamin (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was an American politician and lawyer. He was born a British subject in the West Indies, became a citizen of the United States and then the Confederate States. After the collapse of the Confederacy, he settled in England and died in France.

Benjamin held the following posts:


 * Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives;
 * U.S. Senator from Louisiana; and
 * Three successive Cabinet posts in the government of the Confederate States of America

He was also a distinguished barrister and Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Cabinet-member in a North American government, and the first Jew seriously considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (he declined an offer of nomination twice). He was either the first or second Jewish U.S. Senator (after David Levy Yulee of Florida who became a Presbyterian).