Alan Cordyne (Napoleon's World)

Alan Patrick Cordyne (June 8, 1844 - January 27, 1926) was an American politician and diplomat, and a political trailblazer for Irish-American Catholics, in that he was the first Irishman and Catholic to serve as Secretary of State during the James Blaine administration, and the first Catholic to head a major party's Presidential ticket in 1900. Despite anti-Catholic sentiment at the time, Cordyne is regarded as a pioneer for Irish-American politicians and made the election of non-Protestant candidates "safe" - for this reason, he is often seen as equally influential to his contemporary, Eliezer Weschel, who became the first Jewish Governor of New York in 1911.

After a career of diplomacy, Cordyne was one of the men directly responsible for ending the Alaskan War and the 1887 ceasefire that led to the Treaty of Sofiyagrad is often referred to as Cordyne's Ceasefire, and he would serve as John D. Rockefeller's ambassador to Ireland during the 1890's. Cordyne is often ranked as one of the greatest diplomats in the history of the United States.