For a time he was an American correspondent of The Times of London. Reed published many controversial and historical pamphlets and contributed essays chiefly to the American Quarterly and the North American Review. He wrote about his grandfather Joseph Reed in the book Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed in 1847 and his grandmother Esther Reed in the book Life of Esther de Berdt in 1853. He joined the Democratic party in 1856 and was ostracized due to his pro-confederacy views during the U.S. Civil War. He was hired to defend Confederate president Jefferson Davis in court after the U.S. Civil War was over, however Davis never went to trial. He is interred at the St. James the Less Episcopal Churchyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. References |- |- History of the foreign relations of China Lawyers from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania faculty Pennsylvania Democrats 1806 births 1876 deaths District Attorneys of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Attorneys General Pennsylvania Whigs 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century male writers 19th-century American politicians Ambassadors of the United States to China Reed family (Pennsylvania and New Jersey)