The Secret Service Fund and the Maine Boundary

During the early 1840s, tensions between the United States and Great Britain centered on the uncertain boundary between Maine and Canada. To resolve the dispute, President John Tyler and Secretary of State Daniel Webster entered into negotiations with the British envoy, Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton.

Historian Christopher J. Leahy writes in President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler that Webster “used funds from the Secret Service Fund to ensure the success of the negotiations.” The money, originally appropriated by Congress years earlier for “the contingent expenses of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations,” was intended for delicate diplomatic purposes.

But the way Webster and Tyler used the money would soon raise eyebrows.

Leahy describes how Francis O.J. Smith, a Maine businessman, newspaper editor, and sometime political opportunist, approached Webster with a scheme “amounting to a propaganda campaign in Maine.” By quietly feeding editorials favoring compromise to local newspapers, Smith hoped to sway public opinion toward accepting the treaty terms.

When critics discovered the payments, they accused Tyler and Webster of illegally disbursing public funds.

Four years after the Webster–Ashburton Treaty was ratified, Congress investigated the matter. In June 1846, former President Tyler returned to Washington to testify before two select committees, defending both his administration’s and Webster’s conduct. His testimony succeeded in exonerating Webster and “quashing further investigation of his administration.”

Further Reading:

Christopher J. Leahy, President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler (Louisiana State University Press, 2020).

Why It Matters

This episode highlights how even principled leaders must navigate the gray areas of governance.
Tyler’s use of the Secret Service Fund showed a president adapting to circumstance — balancing diplomacy, discretion, and the need to secure peace.
The affair also foreshadowed modern debates about executive authority, public trust, and the boundaries of persuasion in politics.

Image Caption:

Portrait of John Tyler, oil on canvas by George P.A. Healy, 1859. (White House Historical Association. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons).

Book cover: President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler by Christopher J. Leahy

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