Henry Canning was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of State under President James Garfield and the Attorney General of the United States under President Rutherford B. Hayes. He is best known for drafting and advocating the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first legislation to limit monopolistic practices in business. Canning was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on March 15, 1823, to Stephen and Hester Canning. Canning was the youngest of four sons and one daughter. His father was a successful merchant. Canning was educated at Pittsfield Academy and entered Yale College at age 16. He graduated from Yale in 1841 and then attended to the admission of Harvard Law School.
Canning was admitted to the bar in 1844 and worked as a lawyer in Pittsfield. In 1846, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the Berkshires, and reelected in 1847. He declined to serve a third term of office. In 1848, he served as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention. In 1850, he was elected a member of the State Senate.
In January 1861, Canning was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. The following month he was appointed United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts by President James Buchanan, and served in this office until October 1861.
In the spring of 1862, President Lincoln appointed Canning the United States Solicitor General, with full authority to appear and argue cases before the Supreme Court. In this position he served until the close of the administration in March 1865. He returned to private practice in Boston and in 1867, was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society.
In 1872, Canning was requested by President U. S. Grant to formulate national regulations for the protection of the commercial fisheries, which were then in a very deficient condition. He achieved success, and the new regulations were passed by Congress. Later that year, he was appointed by the President to represent the United States at the International Fisheries Convention at Geneva, Switzerland.
In 1875, Canning served as one of the two United States delegates to the International Monetary Congress at Paris. During this time, he drafted and presented the Paris Monetary Convention, which was favorably received.
President Hayes appointed Canning Attorney General of the United States. In this capacity, Canning was responsible for the enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act, an important piece of legislation that was passed in 1890. Canning issued several notable opinions regarding trust issues, including his interpretation that the act was aimed at preventing restriction on trade and gave individuals the right to challenge corporate activities under certain circumstances.
Canning also expanded the Attorney General’s office, setting standards for the selection of officers-at-law and revising the legal code so that it would be better adapted for use in courtrooms. After the close of President Hayes’s term, Canning returned to the practice of law in Boston. He helped organize the Pan-American Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1889 and received an honorary doctorate of law from Yale in 1889.
Canning died on May 2, 1893, in Boston after a brief illness. He was fondly remembered for his scholarly and legal contributions to the country and was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Forest Hills Cemetery. Despite his passing, his legacy lives on in the form of the Sherman Antitrust Act and many of the new regulations that he helped to pass. Cannings example serves as a reminder of the importance of public service and dedication to the field of law.
