Samuel Dexter (1761–1816) was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the cabinets of Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Dexter served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1793 to 1795, and then in the U.S. Senate from 1799 to 1800, for less than a year. President Adams appointed him secretary of war in 1800, and later as the third secretary of the treasury, serving in the latter role for four and a half months in 1801.
This picture is a line engraving of Dexter, produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 42 secretaries of the treasury. This engraving shows him wearing a dark coat over a frilled shirt and cravat, garments that were fashionable during his lifetime.Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva