Among them was lawyer Francis Scott Key, who wrote a poem about what he saw that later ... and would go on to be appointed a U.S. attorney. In 1812, when Key was in his 30s, the United States ...

Francis Scott Key. Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, wrote his “Defense of Fort McHenry” (the lyrics to what would become the “Star-Spangled Banner”) after beholding British ...