Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Benjamin Franklin Butler was a lawyer, legislator and Attorney General of the United States. He was the son of Medad Butler and Hannah Butler, of Kinderhook Landing, in Columbia County, New York. He studied at the Academy in Hudson, New York, and read law with Martin Van Buren. Butler was admitted to the bar in 1817, and became Van Buren's partner. Francis Wellman, in his book The Art of Cross-Examination, regarded Butler as one of the most successful cross-examiners of his day. In 1818, he married Harriet Allen.Butler was one of the earliest members of the Albany Regency. He began his political career as district attorney of Albany County, serving from 1821 to 1824. He was appointed one of the three commissioners to revise the State statutes in 1825. Butler was a member from Albany County of the New York State Assembly in 1828