Chargé d'Affaires, Venezuela

In December 1849, Steele was appointed Chargé d'Affaires to Venezuela by U.S. President Zachary Taylor, a member of the Whig Party from Kentucky, during a recess of the U.S. Senate. He presented his credentials in Caracas on January 7, 1850, and was recommissioned on June 24, 1850, after confirmation.^[6] He remained in his post after Taylor's unexpected death seven months later in July 1850 when Millard Fillmore became president, and served until October 18, 1853,^[6] when he was succeeded by Charles Eames, several months after Democrat Franklin Pierce was sworn in as the 14th president after his defeat of Whig candidate Gen. Winfield Scott.

While in his post, he had to contend with Venezuela radical Narciso López, who led repeated filibustering expeditions in an attempt to conquer the island of Cuba, then a colony of Spain. The annexation of Cuba was the object of fascination among many in the South, who saw in Cuba a potential new slave state,^[7] and López had several prominent Southern supporters.^[8] López made several generous offers to American military leaders to support him, but Taylor and his Secretary of State, John M. Clayton, viewed the enterprise as illegal, issuing a blockade, and later,^[9] authorized the arrest of López and his associates for breach of the Neutrality Act, although they were eventually acquitted by friendly Southern juries.^[7] During Fillmore's presidency, López began another expedition which ended with his execution by the Spanish, along with several Americans, including the nephew of Attorney General John J. Crittenden, which led to riots against the Spanish in New Orleans. Fillmore and his Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, worked out a series of face-saving measures with the Spanish that settled the crisis without armed conflict. Many Southerners, including Whigs, supported the filibusters, and Fillmore's response helped divide the Whig party in the 1852 election.^[10]

Reportedly, Steele narrowly escaped death when a band of robbers broke into the United States legation at Caracas in an attempt to steal the money of diplomatic representatives held for safe-keeping by the chargé d'Affaires.^[5] While in Venezuela, he was able to secure settlement of several American's substantial claims which "had been so long postponed as to be regarded as hopeless."^[11][12]

Later career

Upon his return to the United States in 1853, he resumed his legal practice and was involved in nearly all of the most prominent cases before the Maryland courts with his name appearing "more frequently in the pages of Maryland reports than any other lawyer of his time." Steele was noted for "the clearness of his statements, the strength and force of his logic and his power as a cross-examiner" and appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States.^[2] From 1872 to 1874, he served as the attorney of Baltimore City.^[5]

Steele was one of the charter members of the Maryland Club (founded in 1857), and served as one of its first governors. He was also a member of the Maryland Historical Society.^[5]

Descendants

Through his son Charles, he was the grandfather of three granddaughters: Eleanor Herndon Steele (1893–1977), who married four times,^{[33][34][35][36][37]} and with her fourth husband established the charitable Steele-Reese Foundation;^[38] Nancy Gordon Steele (1894–1955),^[39] who married renowned polo-player Devereux Milburn;^[40][41] and Kathryn Nevitt Steele (1896–1981), who married Francis Skiddy von Stade Sr., also a star polo player.^[42][43] His great great granddaughter is Frederica Von Stade, the opera singer. His great great grandson is John Steele Gordon, the historian.

Honors and legacy

In 1872, he was awarded an honorary LL.D. from his alma mater, St. John's College. In 1895, Steele was posthumously described thusly:^[2]

Steele was "one of the brightest, keenest, analytical legal minds that ever graced and adorned the bar of Maryland or any State, or shed lustre upon any court anywhere. As a counsellor, adviser, or practitioner of the law, he stood without a superior, and when he died he left behind a reputation for eloquence, soundness in the law, fidelity to every interest intrusted to him, that has never been surpassed. His countenance, his manner, his walk and conversation bespoke not only the student learned in all the principles and abstruse points of his profession, but also showed the man who loved it, and believing in it honored it at all times and under all circumstances."^[2]