William Preston (Kentucky)

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For other persons named William Preston, see William Preston.

William Preston (October 16, 1816–September 21, 1887) was an American lawyer, politician, ambassador.

Preston was born Louisville, Kentucky. He was the nephew of Francis Preston. He pursued preparatory studies and was graduated from St. Joseph's College, Kentucky. He attended Yale College in 1835 and graduated from the law department of Harvard University in 1838. After graduation from Harvard he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Louisville in 1839. He served as lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Kentucky Volunteers in the Mexican War 1846–1848. After the war he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1849 and a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1850. Subsequently he served in the State senate 1851–1853. He was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Humphrey Marshall and reelected to the Thirty-third Congress and served from December 6, 1852, to March 3, 1855. He stood again for another term in 1854 but was unsuccessful. President James Buchanan appointed Preston as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain in 1858. He resigned as ambassador in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War. Although his home state of Kentucky did not secede from the Union, Preston served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and attained the rank of major general. He was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Confederacy to Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico in 1864. After the war he again served as a member of the Kentucky State house of Representatives in 1868 and 1869. Preston died in Louisville on September 21, 1887. He is interred in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.