Editing George M. Dallas (section)

==Political career==
[[File:Polk Dallas campaign banner.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Polk/Dallas campaign poster]]
After the [[War of 1812]], Pennsylvania's political climate was chaotic, with two factions vying for control of the state's Democratic Party.<ref name=USSBio/> Dallas led the Philadelphia-based "Family Party", which asserted that the [[Constitution of the United States]] was supreme, and that an energetic national government should implement protective tariffs and a powerful central banking system, and undertake internal improvements to the country in order to facilitate national commerce.<ref name=USSBio/> The other faction was called the "Amalgamators", headed by the future President [[James Buchanan]].<ref name=USSBio/>

He was elected mayor of Philadelphia as the candidate of the Family Party, after the party had gained control of the city councils.<ref name=USSBio/> However, he quickly grew bored with that post, and became the [[United States Attorney]] for the eastern district of Pennsylvania in 1829, a position his father had held from 1801 to 1814, and continued in that role until 1831.<ref name=USSBio/> In December of that year, he won a five-man, eleven-ballot [[United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania, 1831|contest in the state legislature]] for [[United States Senate|Senator]] from Pennsylvania,  to complete the unexpired term of [[Isaac D. Barnard]], who had resigned.<ref name=USSBio/>

Dallas served less than fifteen months, from 13 December 1831 to 3 March 1833. He was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. Dallas did not seek re-election, in part due to a [[Bank War|fight over the Second Bank of the United States]], and in part because his wife did not want to leave Philadelphia for Washington.<ref name="senate"/>

Dallas resumed the practice of law, and was Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1833 to 1835.

He was appointed by President [[Martin Van Buren]] as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1837, serving until 1839, when he was recalled at his own request. Dallas was then offered the post of [[United States Attorney General|US Attorney General]], but declined, and resumed his legal practice.<ref name="senate" />  In the lead-up to the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 presidential election]], Dallas supported Van Buren for the Democratic nomination over fellow Pennsylvanian James Buchanan.<ref name="senate" />