Amos Kendall was born on August 16, 1789, in Dunstable, Massachusetts, graduating from Dartmouth College in 1811. Kendall studied law in Massachusetts before earning admission to the Kentucky bar in 1814. He was appointed fourth auditor of the Treasury during the administration of President Andrew Jackson (1832-1835), and later served as postmaster general for both Jackson and President Martin Van Buren (1835-1840). Kendall was a principal contributor to many of Jackson's state papers, including the 1832 Bank recharter veto. He later became an agent for the collection of claims against the United States (1843), founded Kendall's Expositor (1841) and Union Democrat (1842), became a business partner of Samuel F.B. Morse, and authored several publications, including The Life of Andrew Jackson (1843). Amos Kendall died in Washington, D.C, on November 12, 1869.

For further reading: Kendall, Amos. Autobiography of Amos Kendall. Edited by William Stickney. 1872. Reprint, New York: Peter Smith, 1949.

Fowler, Dorothy Ganfield. The Cabinet Politician: The Postmasters General, 1829-1909. New York: Columbia Uniersity Press, 1943.