Butler was one of the earliest members of the
Albany Regency. When fellow Regency member and Van Buren ally
Roger Skinner was appointed Judge of the
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in 1819, he sold his law office to Butler, who took over Skinner's clients and pending cases. Butler began his political career as district attorney of
Albany County, serving from 1821 to 1825. 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. In 1833, he served as commissioner for
New York to adjust the
New Jersey boundary line. On November 15, 1833,
President Andrew Jackson appointed Butler Attorney General, an office he held until 1838. From that year until 1841, and from 1845 to 1848, he was
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was a prominent participant in the
1844 Democratic National Convention. As one of the leaders of the New York delegation, he supported the candidacy of Martin Van Buren and opposed the 2/3 rule for nominating, but failed in both cases. In the end, he was the one to announce that the New York delegation would switch to eventual winner
James K. Polk. Van Buren recommended Butler to Polk for a cabinet position but told Polk that he was loath to leave his lucrative law practice and so would not agree unless offered the office of
Secretary of State. Polk ended up offering him
Secretary of War, but Butler declined, stating that he would only accept State or Treasury. He was also at the
1848 Free Soil Convention, where he helped write the party platform.
Legacy Butler was a regent of the
University of the State of New York from 1829 to 1832. He was instrumental in founding
New York University in 1831 and served in various capacities with the university from its inception. He received the
honorary degree of
LL.D. from
Rutgers University in 1834. He was appointed principal professor of
New York University in 1837. ==Personal life==