John Jay

John Jay was one of America's greatest Founding Fathers. First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary for Foreign Affairs during the Confederation, President of the Continental Congress, Governor of New York -- the only surprise is that he never became President. A New York lawyer, Jay (1745-1829) negotiated (with Franklin and Adams) the treaty that ended the War of Independence and later, in Jay's Treaty of 1794, the first commercial agreement with Britain. Actively engaged in the Revolutionary War, and a major contributor to the development and ratification of the Constitution, he was a central figure in the early history of the American Republic. A slave owner himself, he was nevertheless an early exponent of the gradual abolition of slavery. John Jay is the first biography for over sixty years of this remarkable man. Drawing on substantial new material, Walter Stahr has written a full and highly readable portrait of both the public and the private man.

"In humanizing Jay, Stahr makes him an appealing figure accessible to a large readership and places Jay once again in the company of America's greatest statesmen, where he unquestionably belongs." Publishers Week. "Walter Stahr's excellent biography should establish Jay's standing as one of America's great statesmen." The Weekly Standard. "Fascinating, learned and beautifully written. I look forward to reading more history from this gifted scholar." - Washington Times 20 March 2005; "A welcome and worthy biography" - The Sunday Times 15 May 2005

Walter B Stahr is an international lawyer. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1978, cum laude from Harvard Law School, and with honors from the Kennedy School of Public Policy in 1982. At Harvard he was executive editor and then editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review. After working in Hong Kong, he spent some years as special counsel and principal speechwriter to SEC Chairman Richard Breeden. Since 2000 he has served as internal counsel for Emerging Markets Partnership in Washington DC. He has a longstanding interest in the history of the American Revolution.