James Madison Hood: "Lincoln's Consul to the Court of Siam

Captain James Madison Hood was the real U.S. Consul in the novel Anna and the King of Siam, but before his arrival in Bangkok, he was also a merchant ship captain, builder of clipper ships, legislator in both Massachusetts and Illinois, industrialist, and land speculator. He was present at the birth of the Republican Party. As U.S. Consul, he presided over the trial of Dr. Dan Beach Bradley for libel of the French Consul, Gabriel Aubaret, a case which influenced the course of Southeast Asian history and got Anna Leonowens in trouble with King Mongkut. Captain Hood lived large and was not above a little extralegal maneuvering to support his lifestyle. His life is a tour through the politics, economics and deal making of the mid-19th century.