Anthony W. Gardiner

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Anthony William Gardiner

9th President of Liberia
In office January 7, 1878 – January 20, 1883
Vice President(s)	Alfred Francis Russell
Preceded by	James Spriggs-Payne
Succeeded by	Alfred F. Russell

Born	February 3, 1820 Virginia, United States
Political party	True Whig

Anthony William Gardiner (1820–1885) was the 9th President of Liberia from 1878 until 1883. He was the second member of the True Whig Party to hold that office, and the first of a series of True Whig presidents who held power uninterruptedly until 1980.

[edit] Biography

Gardiner was born in the state of Virginia in the United States. In 1831, when he was still a child, his family relocated to Liberia under the sponsorship of the American Colonization Society. Gardiner received his law degree in Liberia and, in 1847, he served as a delegate to the National Convention, which drafted Liberia's declaration of independence and constitution. He became Liberia's first attorney general and later served in the National Legislature from 1855 to 1871.

In 1871, Gardiner became vice-president of Liberia following the coup d'état against President Edward Roye. He was then elected vice-president twice, serving until 1876. During the incapacitation of President J. J. Roberts from 1875 until early 1876, Gardiner was also acting president.

Less than two years after leaving office as acting president, Gardiner won election to the presidency, taking office in 1878. In the same election, the True Whig Party won a massive victory and proceeded to dominate Liberian politics until the beginning of the Civil War in 1980. Gardiner himself was re-elected to two further two-year terms. As president, he called for increased trade with and investment from outside countries, improved public education, and closer relations with Liberia's native peoples. However, his domestic policies were to be overshadowed by the ramifications of the European powers' "scramble for Africa".

During Gardiner's administration difficulties with the British Empire and with Germany reached a crisis. Liberia was drawn into a border conflict with the British Empire over the Gallinas territory, lying between the Sewa River and the Manno River—territory which now forms the extreme eastern part of Sierra Leone. The British made a formal show of force at Monrovia in a mission led by Sir Arthur Havelock; meanwhile, the looting of a German vessel along the Kru Coast and personal indignities inflicted by the natives upon the shipwrecked Germans, led to the bombardment of Nana Kru by a German warship and the presentation at Monrovia of a claim for damages, payment of which was forced by the threat of the bombardment of the capital. President Gardiner resigned on January 20, 1883, due to a serious illness. He was succeeded by the vice-president, Alfred F. Russell. Two months later, the Gallinas territory was formally incorporated into Sierra Leone by the British.

[edit] References

Brawley, Benjamin (1921, 1971). A Social History of The American Negro, Being a History of the Negro Problem in the United States. Including A History And Study Of The Republic Of Liberia. New York, AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-00138-6.

This article incorporates public domain text from Brawley, A Social History of The American Negro, retrieved from Project Gutenberg [1]

[edit] External links

Liberia Past and Present: Anthony W. Gardiner
The True Whig Ascendancy

Preceded by James Skivring Smith	Vice-President of Liberia 1871–1876	Succeeded by Alfred Francis Russell
Preceded by James Spriggs Payne	President of Liberia 1878 – 1883	Succeeded by Alfred Francis Russell