William Almon Wheeler (June 30, 1819June 4, 1887) was an American politician and attorney. He served as a
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
from 1861 to 1863 and 1869 to 1877, and the 19th
vice president of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
from 1877 to 1881.
Born in
Malone, New York, Wheeler pursued a legal career after attending the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
. After serving in various local positions, he won election to the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
. He served in Congress from 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877. He was widely respected for his integrity, and refused his salary increase after Congress passed an
1873 pay raise that he opposed.
After the
1876 Republican National Convention
The 1876 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14–16, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant had considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a p ...
settled on
Rutherford B. Hayes as the party's presidential nominee after seven ballots, the delegates nominated Wheeler for vice president. Nominated by Congressman
Luke P. Poland
Luke Potter Poland (November 1, 1815 – July 2, 1887) was a United States senator and Representative from Vermont.
Biography
Poland was born in Westford son of Luther and Nancy Potter Poland. He attended the common schools and Jericho Academy ...
, Wheeler surged into an early lead over
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen,
Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell (October 20, 1825February 10, 1883) was a manufacturer, pioneer telegrapher, telephone entrepreneur, world traveler, and political figure who served as 44th and 46th Governor of Connecticut, the US Minister to Russia, the 25th ...
, and
Stewart L. Woodford
Stewart Lyndon Woodford (September 3, 1835 – February 14, 1913) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and Lieutenant Governor of New York.
Born in New York City, Woodf ...
to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Wheeler was nominated because he was popular among his colleagues, having worked to avoid making enemies in Congress. In addition, as a resident of the populous Eastern state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, he provided geographical balance to the ticket, since Hayes was from the populous
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
state of Ohio. The Republican ticket prevailed in the contentious
1876 presidential election
The 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee Rutherford B. Haye ...
, though they lost the popular vote. Though they had not known each other before the convention, Wheeler and Hayes got along amicably while in office. They chose not to seek second terms, and Wheeler returned to Malone, New York, after the end of his term. He died in 1887, and was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.
Wheeler's pursuit of an alliance between Republicans and Old Southern Whigs, which involved an abandonment of the Republican Party's commitment to ensuring civil rights and social equality, doomed Southern blacks to the hands of
Democratic white supremacists, who enacted
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
that lasted for decades.
Early life and career
William Almon Wheeler was born in
Malone, New York, and attended
Franklin Academy and the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
, although monetary concerns forced him to drop out without graduating.
Wheeler received the
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
s of
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 1865 and
LL.D. from the University of Vermont (1867) and
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
(1877). In 1876 he received his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from the University of Vermont "as in course", making him a graduate of the class of 1842. In 1845 he married Mary King (1828-1876).
He
studied law with Asa Hascall, a Malone attorney and politician who served as
town supervisor
The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...
,
justice of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
,
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
, and member of the
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
. Wheeler was
admitted to the bar in 1845, and practiced in Malone. He was District Attorney of Franklin County from 1846 to 1849. He was a member of the Assembly (Franklin Co.) in
1850
Events
January–June
* April
** Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome.
** Stephen Foster's parlor ballad "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway" is published in the United States.
* April 4 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a cit ...
and
1851
Events
January–March
* January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion.
* January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.
...
; and of the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan com ...
(17th D.) in
1858
Events
January–March
* January –
**Benito Juárez (1806–1872) becomes Liberal President of Mexico. At the same time, conservatives install Félix María Zuloaga (1813–1898) as president.
**William I of Prussia becomes regent f ...
and
1859
Events
January–March
* January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico.
* January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...
.
He was elected as a
Republican to the
37th United States Congress
The 37th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861, ...
, holding office from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863. He was elected to the
41st,
42nd
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
,
43rd and
44th United States Congress
The 44th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_sk ...
es, holding office from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1877.
![William Wheeler, photo portrait seated](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/William_Wheeler%2C_photo_portrait_seated.jpg)
During his House tenure, Wheeler served as chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads (42nd Congress) and the
Committee on Commerce (43rd Congress).
Wheeler's reputation for honesty was celebrated by
Allan Nevins in his introduction to John F. Kennedy's ''Profiles in Courage.''
Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829April 18, 1888) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Se ...
, a Senator and New York State political boss once offered, "Wheeler, if you will act with us, there is nothing in the gift of the State of New York to which you may not reasonably aspire." Wheeler declined with "Mr. Conkling, there is nothing in the gift of the State of New York which will compensate me for the forfeiture of my self-respect."
Wheeler served as president of New York's
Northern Railroad. He was also president of the New York State Constitutional Convention which met from June 1867 to February 1868. His acceptance speech after being chosen as president gave a ringing endorsement for racial equality:
When Congress voted a pay raise in 1873 and made it retroactive for five years (the
Salary Grab Act
The Salary Grab Act, officially known as the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Expenses Appropriation Act, was passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1873 and sparked a firestorm of controversy among members of the government, the g ...
), Wheeler not only voted against the raise, but after it passed he returned his salary increase to the Treasury department.
Wheeler was responsible for the so-called
Wheeler Compromise
The Wheeler Compromise, sometimes known as the Wheeler Adjustment, was the settlement of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1872 in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and negotiation to organize the state's legislature in January 1875. It was negoti ...
of 1875, which settled a volatile political situation in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
but eventually led to the withdrawal of federal troops and the end of
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
.
Election of 1876
Wheeler was a delegate to the
1876 Republican National Convention
The 1876 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14–16, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant had considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a p ...
, which had nominated
Rutherford B. Hayes for president on the seventh ballot.
![Hayes-Wheeler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Hayes-Wheeler.jpg)
Wheeler was considered a "safe" choice for the vice presidential nomination, as he had not made many enemies over the course of his political career, though Roscoe Conkling himself supported the former congressman from New York
Stewart L. Woodford
Stewart Lyndon Woodford (September 3, 1835 – February 14, 1913) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and Lieutenant Governor of New York.
Born in New York City, Woodf ...
. When the time came for the convention to nominate a vice presidential candidate, congressman
Luke P. Poland
Luke Potter Poland (November 1, 1815 – July 2, 1887) was a United States senator and Representative from Vermont.
Biography
Poland was born in Westford son of Luther and Nancy Potter Poland. He attended the common schools and Jericho Academy ...
of Vermont nominated Wheeler, who immediately surged to the lead over Woodford and several other candidates. By the time the roll call reached New York, the result was apparent, and Woodford withdrew, enabling New York to cast all its votes for Wheeler. Wheeler won the nomination with 366 votes to the 89 for his nearest rival
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, who later served on the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
which decided the 1876 election in favor of Hayes and Wheeler.
Governor Hayes, when he heard of Wheeler's nomination, wrote to his wife Lucy: "I am ashamed to say: Who ''is Wheeler?"'' Hayes and Wheeler had not served in the House of Representatives at the same time, so Hayes was unfamiliar with his running mate.
At the Republican National Convention,
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
asked if the GOP would adhere to its pro-civil rights roots. The advocacy of Hayes and Wheeler, among a faction of Northern Republicans, was to abandon Reconstruction efforts and instead make conciliatory appeals to Southern
Whiggery.
Vice presidency (1877–1881)
He was inaugurated on March 4, 1877 and served until March 4, 1881.
Since Wheeler was a recent widower, his wife having died one year before he took office,
he was a frequent guest at the White House's alcohol-free luncheons. As vice president, Wheeler presided over the Senate. According to Hayes, Wheeler "was one of the few Vice Presidents who were on cordial terms, intimate and friendly, with the President. Our family were heartily fond of him."
Hayes had announced at the start of his administration that he would not run for a second term. Wheeler did not run for the 1880 Republican presidential nomination, and retired at the end of his term.
Bill and Lady Hayes' Fishing Trip (1878)
When First Lady
Lucy Webb Hayes
Lucy Ware Hayes ( née Webb; August 28, 1831 – June 25, 1889) was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes and served as first lady of the United States from 1877 to 1881.
Hayes was the first First Lady to have a college degree. She was a ...
found out Wheeler's status as a widower and without children, she and her husband made a duty to take the lonely Wheeler into their social circle. Wheeler, who felt very close with the two, was grateful of their kindness and during the early parts of spring of 1878; Wheeler asked Lucy to accompany him on a fishing trip in
Adirondacks. Lucy accepted and joined Wheeler on May 31st, on their first day of fishing, the first lady and the vice president caught a large
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
that weighed about 13 pounds. Wheeler sent the president the trout that he and the first lady had captured, Hayes immediately took initiative and telegraphed Wheeler jokingly that he thought it was more like 13 ounces, the two replied back and forth with joking replies. Hayes was actually very surprised with how big the trout was, he then had it served during an informal dinner with cabinet and some senators. The day afterwards, Wheeler and Lucy were travelling back to Malone when a group of children were waving red flags at the vice president and first lady, touched by the act, Wheeler stopped the carriage that he and Lucy were riding to introduce the first lady to the children. The trip was eleven days and Lucy and her daughter Fanny returned to Washington, she wrote to Wheeler thanking him for "a wild and joyous time".
Post-vice presidency (1881–1887)
In January 1881, Wheeler received 10 votes in the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
's Republican caucus to determine a nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat
Francis Kernan
Francis Kernan (January 14, 1816September 7, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician. A resident of New York, he was active in politics as a Democrat, and served in several elected offices, including member of the New York State Assembly, ...
.
The Republican nomination went to
Thomas C. Platt
Thomas Collier Platt (July 15, 1833 – March 6, 1910), also known as Tom Platt , who received 54 caucus votes.
The Republicans controlled the legislature, and Platt defeated Kernan 104 votes to 50.
Wheeler retired to Malone following the end of his vice presidential term on March 4, 1881. In May 1881, Platt and
Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829April 18, 1888) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Se ...
resigned their U.S. Senate seats in a dispute with President
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
over control of patronage in New York,
triggering two special elections.
In the
legislative election for Platt's seat, it took six weeks of balloting to elect a candidate.
Wheeler's name was in consideration, and he received as many as 23 votes before
Warner Miller
Warner Miller (August 12, 1838March 21, 1918) was an American businessman and politician from Herkimer, New York. A Republican, he was most notable for his service as a U.S. Representative (1879-1881) and United States Senator (1881-1887).
A nat ...
was elected with 76 votes on the 46th ballot.
Wheeler was also a candidate for Conkling's seat.
The voting went on for several weeks and Wheeler received as many as 50 votes on some ballots before
Elbridge G. Lapham
Elbridge Gerry Lapham (October 18, 1814January 8, 1890) was a U.S. Senator from New York from 1881–1885.
Life
Lapham attended the public schools and the Canandaigua Academy. He studied civil engineering and law and was admitted to the ba ...
won with 92 votes on the 56th ballot.
Wheeler suffered from several illnesses throughout his life and was in increasingly poor health during his later years. He died at his home at 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, 1887.
The funeral was held at the Congregational church in Malone. He was interred next to his wife in Malone's Morningside Cemetery on June 7, 1887.
References
Further reading
Vice Presidents of the United States William A. Wheeler (1877-1881)* Quigley, David. ''Second Founding: New York City, Reconstruction, and the Making of American Democracy'' (New York: Farrar. Straus, and Giroux - Hill and Wang, 2004), .
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, William A.
1819 births
1887 deaths
19th-century vice presidents of the United States
1876 United States vice-presidential candidates
Members of the New York State Assembly
New York (state) Whigs
New York (state) state senators
People from Malone, New York
People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes
Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Republican Party vice presidents of the United States
Union (American Civil War) political leaders
Vice presidents of the United States
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
University of Vermont alumni
New York (state) lawyers
County district attorneys in New York (state)
Burials in New York (state)
Civil service reform in the United States
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