Judah Philip Benjamin was born on August 6, 1811, in the British West Indies. He became a citizen of the United States and eventually served three consecutive terms as a Cabinet member of the Confederate States of America. Benjamin represented the state of Louisiana in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. Benjamin’s service as a cabinet member and election to a federal office made him the first Jewish Cabinet member in a North American government and the second Jewish U.S. Senator. After the war, Judah P. Benjamin left the country. As a barrister in the UK, Benjamin was a member of the Queen’s Counsel. Judah Philip Benjamin retired to France where he died on May 6, 1884.