Joel Roberts Poinsett

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Joel Roberts Poinsett" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Joel Roberts Poinsett
15th United States Secretary of War
In office March 7, 1837 – March 4, 1841
President	Martin Van Buren
Preceded by	Lewis Cass
Succeeded by	John Bell
United States Minister to Mexico
In office June 1, 1825 – October 17, 1829
President	John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	James Wilkinson (Envoy)
Succeeded by	Anthony Butler (Acting)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district
In office March 4, 1821 – March 7, 1825
Preceded by	Charles Pinckney
Succeeded by	William Drayton
Personal details
Born	Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-03-02)March 2, 1779 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	December 12, 1851(1851-12-12) (aged 72) Stateburg, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Izard Pringle
Parents	Elisha Poinsett Katherine Ann Roberts
Education	University of Edinburgh Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician, diplomat and botanist. He was the first U.S. agent in South America, a member of the South Carolina legislature and the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico, a Unionist leader in South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis, Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution).