James Kirke Paulding

James Kirke Paulding
11th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office July 1, 1838 – March 4, 1841
President	Martin Van Buren
Preceded by	Mahlon Dickerson
Succeeded by	George E. Badger
Personal details
Born	(1778-08-22)August 22, 1778 Pleasant Valley, New York, U.S.
Died	April 6, 1860(1860-04-06) (aged 81) Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic-Republican (Before 1825) Democratic (1825–1860)
Spouse	Gertrude Kemble

James Kirke Paulding (August 22, 1778 – April 6, 1860) was an American writer and, for a time, the United States Secretary of the Navy. Paulding's early writings were satirical and violently anti-British, as shown in The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan (1812). He wrote numerous long poems and serious histories. Among his novels are Konigsmarke, the Long Finne (1823) and The Dutchman's Fireside (1831). He is best known for creating the inimitable Nimrod Wildfire, the "half horse, half alligator" in The Lion of the West (1831), and as collaborator with William Irving and Washington Irving in Salmagundi. (1807–08). Paulding was also, by the mid-1830s, an ardent and outspoken defender of slavery, and he later endorsed southern secession from the union.