Samuel Dexter (May 14, 1761 – May 4, 1816)[1] was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the Presidential Cabinets of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Dexter resigned his senate seat to accept appointment as the fourth United States Secretary of War, and he served from 1800 to 1801.

In January 1801, Dexter was appointed the third United States Secretary of the Treasury, and he served until resigning in the day before his fortieth birthday.

Dexter graduated from Harvard University in 1781 and then studied law in Worcester under Levi Lincoln Sr., the future Attorney General of the United States.

[5] During a House discussion on a Naturalization Bill in 1795, Virginia Representative William Branch Giles controversially suggested that all immigrants be forced to take an oath renouncing any titles of nobility they previously held.

Dexter responded by questioning why Catholics were not required to denounce allegiance to the Pope, because priestcraft had initiated more problems throughout history than aristocracy.

[7] Dexter served in the Senate for less than a year, and resigned in order to accept his appointment as United States Secretary of War in the administration of President John Adams.

[8] During his time at the War Department he urged congressional action to permit appointment and compensation of field officers for general staff duty.