James Harlan (senator)

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James Harlan

8th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office May 16, 1865 – August 31, 1866
Preceded by	John Palmer Usher
Succeeded by	Orville Hickman Browning

Born	August 26, 1820 Clark County, Illinois, USA
Died	October 5, 1899 Mount Pleasant, Iowa, USA
Political party	Whig, Free Soil, Republican
Profession	Politician
Religion	Methodist

James Harlan (August 26, 1820 – October 5, 1899) was a member of the United States Senate and a U.S. Cabinet Secretary.

Harlan represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate as a member of the Free Soil Party in 1855. In 1857 the Senate declared the seat vacant because of irregularities in the legislative proceedings that first elected Harlan to the Senate. He was then re-elected to the Senate by the Iowa legislature as a Republican and continued to hold his Senate seat until 1865.

In 1865 he resigned elected office to become Secretary of the Interior under President Andrew Johnson, an appointment he held until 1866. As secretary he announced that he intended to "clean house." It was during this time that he fired the poet Walt Whitman, who was working as a clerk in the department, because he found Whitman's book, Leaves of Grass, to be morally offensive. Harlan resigned from the post in 1866 due to the fact he no longer supported the policies of President Johnson. He was elected again to the United States Senate in 1867 and served until 1873.

From 1853 to 1855, Harlan was president of Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where, following his career of public service, he resided until his death in 1899. Along with pioneer Iowa governor Samuel Kirkwood, Harlan's sculptured likeness is maintained among the two coveted statues apportioned to each state on display under the rotunda in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Harlan was a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln and his family. In 1868 his daughter, Mary Eunice Harlan, married Robert Todd Lincoln.

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Preceded by Augustus C. Dodge	United States Senator (Class 3) from Iowa 1855 – 1865 Served alongside: George W. Jones and James W. Grimes	Succeeded by Samuel J. Kirkwood
Preceded by John P. Usher	United States Secretary of the Interior 1865 – 1866	Succeeded by Orville H. Browning
Preceded by Samuel J. Kirkwood	United States Senator (Class 3) from Iowa 1867 – 1873 Served alongside: James W. Grimes, James B. Howell and George G. Wright	Succeeded by William B. Allison