William Almon Wheeler | |
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19th Vice President of the United States | |
In office March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 |
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President | Rutherford B. Hayes |
Preceded by | Henry Wilson |
Succeeded by | Chester A. Arthur |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 16th district | |
In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 |
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Preceded by | George W. Palmer |
Succeeded by | Orlando Kellogg |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district | |
In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873 |
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Preceded by | Calvin T. Hulburd |
Succeeded by | Robert S. Hale |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 18th district | |
In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875 |
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Preceded by | John M. Carroll |
Succeeded by | Andrew Williams |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th district | |
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877 |
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Preceded by | Henry H. Hathorn |
Succeeded by | Amaziah B. James |
Personal details | |
Born | June 30, 1819 Malone, New York |
Died | June 4, 1887 Malone, New York |
(aged 67)
Nationality | American |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Mary King Wheeler |
Alma mater | University of Vermont |
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William Almon Wheeler (June 30, 1819 – June 4, 1887) was a Representative from New York and the 19th Vice President of the United States (1877–1881).
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Wheeler was born in Malone, New York, and attended Franklin Academy and the University of Vermont, although monetary concerns forced him to drop out without graduating.[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1845, practiced law in Malone, and served as district attorney for Franklin County from 1846 to 1849. He became a member of the New York State Assembly in 1850 and 1851 and member of the state Senate from 1858 to 1860. He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh United States Congress (March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863). He was President of the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1867-68, and was elected to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877).
Wheeler was also President of the New York Northern Railroad.[2]
When Congress voted a pay raise in 1873 and made it retroactive for five years, Wheeler not only voted against the raise, but returned his salary adjustment to the Treasury department.[1]
Wheeler's reputation for honesty was celebrated by Allan Nevins in his introduction to John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage. Roscoe Conkling, a Senator and a political boss 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." (John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage (New York, 1956), p. xiv.)
Wheeler did serve as president of the New York State Constitutional Convention of June 1867. His acceptance speech gave a ringing endorsement for racial equality:
"[W]e owe it to the cause of universal civil liberty, we owe it to the struggling liberalism of the old world,...that every man within [New York], of whatever race or color, or however poor, helpless, or lowly he may be, in virtue of his manhood, is entitled to the full employment of every right appertaining to the most exalted citizenship."[3]
Wheeler was a delegate to the Republican convention in 1876, which had just nominated Rutherford B. Hayes on the seventh ballot.
The convention was recessed for dinner, and as a sop to Roscoe Conkling, the party bosses announced that they would let the New York delegation pick the candidate for Vice President. So some of the delegation were discussing the matter and they were stymied. They could not think of anyone who they would want to stick with the position. Then one of them began to giggle. "What about Wheeler?" he chuckled. Soon everyone was having a hearty laugh, including Wheeler, and the next morning he was, much to everyone's surprise, nominated by acclamation.[4] He won the nomination with 366 votes to the 89 for his nearest rival Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, who later served on the Electoral Commission.
Governor Hayes, when he heard of what had happened, remarked: "I am ashamed to say: Who is Wheeler?"[4] This guilty admission reflects more on Hayes' ignorance of national politics than on Wheeler's political fame.
He was inaugurated in March 1877 and served until March 1881.
Since Wheeler was a recent widower, his wife having died three months before he took the oath of office,[1] 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."[1]
Hayes had long announced he wouldn't run for a second term, and Wheeler wasn't put forward for the 1880 nomination.
When his term was over, he retired from public life and active business pursuits because of ill health, and died in Malone, New York. He was interred in Morningside Cemetery, Malone.
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