Hugh Swinton Legare served as U.S. attorney general from 1841 to 1843 under President John Tyler. Legare also distinguished himself as a legal scholar and philosopher, writing many articles on law, philosophy and literature.

Legare was born on January 2, 1797, in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from the College of South Carolina in 1814 and then spent the next three years studying law. In 1818 he went to Scotland where he studied Roman law, philosophy, mathematics and chemistry. His interest in these areas led Legare to amass a large personal library that eventually rivaled the holdings of the Library of Congress in these fields.

After returning to the United States in 1819, Legare entered politics. He was elected to the state legislature in 1820 but gave up the seat two years later when he moved from his plantation back to Charleston. In 1824 he ran from his new district and was sent back to the...