Livingston, Robert R. (1746-1813), an American statesman, helped write the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was a member of the New York convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788, and he helped draft the New York state Constitution of 1777. In 1789, he administered the oath of office to the first U.S. President, George Washington.
Livingston was born on Nov. 27, 1746, in New York City. He studied at King’s College, now Columbia University. In 1775 and 1776, Livingston served as a New York delegate to the Continental Congress. From 1777 to 1801, he was chancellor, or presiding judge, of the New York court of chancery. Livingston served as the first U.S. secretary of foreign affairs from 1781 to 1783. He was also U.S. minister to France from 1801 to 1804. While in France, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, which added a vast new territory to the United States. Later, Livingston gave the American inventor Robert Fulton help in building the Clermont, Fulton’s famous steamboat. Livingston died on Feb. 26, 1813. In 1875, the state of New York placed a statue of Livingston in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
