Editing Elias Boudinot (section)

==Political career==
Boudinot became a prominent lawyer and his practice prospered. As the revolution drew near, he aligned with the [[Radical Whigs|Whigs]], and was elected to the New Jersey provincial assembly in 1775. In the early stages of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], he was active in promoting enlistment; several times he loaned money to field commanders to purchase supplies. Boudinot helped support the activities of rebel spies.

After the British occupation of [[New York City]], spies were sent to [[Staten Island]] and [[Long Island]] to observe and report on movements of specific British garrisons and regiments.

On May 5, 1777, General [[George Washington]] asked Boudinot to be appointed as commissary general for prisoners. Congress through the board of war concurred. Boudinot was commissioned as a colonel in the [[Continental Army]] for this work. He served until July 1778, when competing responsibilities forced him to resign. The commissary managed enemy prisoners, and also was responsible for supplying [[American Revolution prisoners of war|American prisoners]] who were held by the British.

In November 1777, the New Jersey legislature named Boudinot as one of their delegates to the [[Second Continental Congress]]. His duties as Commissary prevented his attendance, so in May 1778 he resigned. By early July he had been replaced and attended his first meeting of the Congress on July 7, 1778. As a delegate, he still continued his concerns for the welfare of prisoners of war. His first term ended that year.

In 1781, Boudinot returned to the Congress, for a term lasting through 1783. In November 1782, he was elected as [[President of the Continental Congress]] for a one-year term. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require him to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents.<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Calvin C. |last1=Jillson |first2=Rick K. |last2=Wilson |title=Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774–1789 |location=Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1994 |pages=76–80 |isbn=0-8047-2293-5 }}</ref> On April 15, 1783, he signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/paris.html|title=Treaty of Paris: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress)|website=www.loc.gov|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref> He also served as Secretary of Foreign affairs from June 1783 to December 1784.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=11565&recCount=25&recPointer=8&bibId=5807816 | title=LC Catalog - Item Information (Full Record) }}</ref> When the United States government was formed in 1789, Boudinot was elected from New Jersey to the US [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]; he was also an unsuccessful candidate for the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] that year.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Jersey 1788 U.S. Senate |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:nj.ussenate.1788 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |work=Tufts Digital Collations and Archives |series=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825 |publisher=[[Tufts University]]}}, citing The New-Jersey Journal, and Political Intelligencer (Elizabethtown, NJ). December 3, 1788.</ref> He was elected to the second and third congresses as well, where he generally supported the administration. He refused to join the expansion of affiliated groups that formed formal political parties. He was one of nine representatives to vote against the [[Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voteview {{!}} Plot Vote: 3rd Congress > House > 9 |url=https://voteview.com/rollcall/RH0030009 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=voteview.com}}</ref>

In 1794, he declined to serve another term, and left Congress in early 1795. In October 1795, President [[George Washington]] appointed him as Director of the [[United States Mint]], a position he held through succeeding administrations until he retired in 1805.