Basic Information
Name: Theodore Sedgwick
Nickname: Theo
Born: May 9. 1746
Died: January 24, 1813
Nationality: American
Hometown: West Hartford, Connecticut
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Lawyer, Major in the Continental Army, delegate to the Continental Congress, Massachusetts state representative, Massachusetts state senator, US House of Representatives, US Senate, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court
Education: Yale
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Benjamin, Anne
Siblings: Sarah, John, Henry, Roderick, Mary, Lorain, Benjamin
Spouse: Elizabeth Mason, Pamela Dwight, Penelope Russell
Children: Elizabeth, Frances, Theodore, Catherine, Henry, Robert, Charles
Friends: Federalists
Foes: Democratic-Republicans
Analysis
You know the one person in school who just has to serve in some office? Class president, treasurer, whatever? And they have a million extracurriculars and have a title for each one?
That was Theodore Sedgwick.
Sedgwick was the President pro tempore of the Senate—that's the leader of majority party of the Senate—when the Alien and Sedition Acts were made into law. He's fourth in line of succession too, meaning if the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House all die in the same tragic go-cart accident, the President pro tempore (that's pronounced "pro-tem") of the Senate, gets to be leader of the free world.
Sedgwick is one of three people who signed the laws. As leader of the Federalists in the Senate, it's unlikely the Alien and Sedition Acts would have been passed without him.
If there was an important political job in the late 18th century in America, Sedgwick probably held it. He served in the Continental Army and later, his political career jumped back and forth between the House of Representatives and the Senate. He led both bodies at different times, too.
He lived a long life, never retiring from public service. Up until the day he died, he was serving on Massachusetts' Supreme Court. He probably would have liked to keel over right after hitting his gavel, but unfortunately life is seldom like a Will Ferrell movie.