Almost President: Thomas Hendricks
Thomas Hendricks of Indiana received the second most electoral college votes in the Presidential Election of 1872. Ulysses Grant won the election, receiving 286 electoral college votes, and Hendricks finished second with 42, a margin of 244. The remarkable thing however is that Hendricks' name wasn't even on the ballot. We'll get to how that happened, but first, a little bit about Thomas Andrew Hendricks.
Hendricks was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, on September 7, 1819, (194 years ago today). His parents were John and Jane Thomson Hendricks, who were originally from Pennsylvania but were living in Ohio when Thomas was born. The family moved to Madison, in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1820, where his uncle, William Hendricks was a successful politician who became governor of Indiana in 1822 and a U.S. Senator in 1825. Thomas graduated from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, class of 1841. After college, Hendricks read law with Judge Stephen Major in Shelbyville and attended law school in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, studying under his uncle, Judge Alexander Thomson. Hendricks returned to Indiana, where he was admitted to the bar in 1843 and began a private law practice in Shelbyville. He married Eliza C. Morgan of North Bend, Ohio, on September 26, 1845. Their only child, a son named Morgan, was born January 16, 1848, and died in 1851, at age three.
Hendricks began his political career in 1848 when he was elected as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. He served a one-year term and was speaker of the house. He ran for Congress in 1850, serving from March 4, 1851, to March 4, 1855. He voted in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which expanded slavery into the western United States, a position which was unpopular in his home district and led to his defeat in the 1854 election.
In 1855 President Franklin Pierce appointed Hendricks as commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., a position that he had no previous qualification for. He resigned as land office commissioner in 1859 and returned to Shelby County, Indiana. In 1860 Hendricks moved to Indianapolis and campaigned as the Democratic candidate for governor of Indiana, but lost to the Republican candidate, Henry S. Lane. He practiced law until 1863 when he was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate. Hendricks spent six years in the Senate (1863 to 1869), where he was often an opponent of the "Radical Republicans", although he supported the Union and prosecution of the war, consistently voting in favor of appropriations.
Hendricks opposed reconstruction after the Civil War, arguing that the southern states had never been out of the Union and were therefore entitled to congressional representation. He also maintained Congress had no authority to reconstruct state governments. Hendricks voted against the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (the amendments which granted voting rights to males of all races and abolished slavery). He said that it was not the right time, so soon after the Civil War, to make fundamental changes to the Constitution. Hendricks opposed President Andrew Johnson's removal from office following his impeachment.
In 1868 the Indiana General Assembly was re-taken by the Republicans and Hendrick was not reelected to a second term and Republican Governor Oliver Morton took over Hendricks's Senate seat. Hendricks ran for governor of Indiana three times (in 1860, 1868, and 1872) and he won on his third attempt. In his second campaign for governor, in 1868, Hendricks lost to the incumbent, Conrad Baker, by 961 votes. Baker, who would later become one of his law partners. Following his loss in the race for Indiana governor, Hendricks retired from the Senate in March 1869 and returned to his private law practice in Indianapolis, but remained connected to Democratic party politics. In 1872, Hendricks was elected as the governor of Indiana, defeating the Republican candidate, General Thomas M. Browne, a Civil War veteran.
So how is it in 1872 that Henricks, who was running for Governor in his own state, finished second in the electoral college results for President, when he wasn't even running for that office? The Democratic Party had nominated New York Tribune editor and publisher Horace Greeley as their candidate to oppose Ulysses Grant's bid for re-election. Grant won an easy re-election over Greeley, winning the electoral college with 286 electoral votes. Greeley won in states totaling 66 electoral votes. But before the votes could be confirmed, Greeley died on November 29, 1872, twenty-four days after the election and before any of his pledged electors (from Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland) could cast their votes. As a result 63 of Greeley's electors cast their votes for other Democrats. It was Hendricks who received most of these (42). Greeley's running mate, Benjamin Gratz Brown received 18, Charles Jenkins received 2 and David Davis received 1.
Hendricks didn't seem to upset about not winning an office that he hadn't even run for. He became the first Democrat in a northern state to win a governorship after the American Civil War. The legislature had been under continual Republican control for twenty years and the Republican controlled legislature prevented him from achieving many of his legislative goals. His term was during a difficult period of post-war depression following the Panic of 1873 that led to a major economic downturn in the state, with high unemployment, business failures, labor strikes, and falling farm prices. Hendricks twice called out the state militia to end workers' strikes: a mining strike in Clay County and a railroad workers' strike in Logansport. The militia was used to protect strikebreakers, who continued operations until the strike ended.
Hendricks ran for vice president of the United States on the Democratic Party's ticket in 1876 and 1884. He was on the losing ticket in the controversial election of 1876 won by Rutherford Hayes in a contest decided in Congress. Hendricks did not attend the Democratic convention in St. Louis, but he was nominated unanimously. With twenty electoral votes in dispute, a fifteen-member Electoral Commission, which included five persons each from the House, Senate, and Supreme Court, was created to determine the outcome. The commission made its decisions, each one by and 8 to 7 party line vote, awarding all the disputed votes from the southern states of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida to the Republican candidates, who won the election.
Hendricks attended the Democratic Party's national convention in Chicago in 1884, as chairman of the Indiana delegation, and was once again nominated for vice-president of the United States by unanimous vote, on a ticket with Grover Cleveland. The Democratic Party's strategy needed each man on the ticket to win his home state. The Democrats narrowly won New York, but Hendricks carried Indiana.
Hendricks would not enjoy the position of Vice-President for long. He had been in poor health for several years, and he served as Vice President only for the last eight months of his life, from his inauguration on March 4 until his death on November 25, 1885. Hendricks died unexpectedly during a trip home to Indianapolis on November 25, 1885. He complained of feeling ill the morning before his death and went to bed early. He died in his sleep that night. His funeral was large, with a ceremony held in St. Paul's Cathedral in Indianapolis, and attended by President Cleveland. Hendricks is interred in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.
Hendricks was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, on September 7, 1819, (194 years ago today). His parents were John and Jane Thomson Hendricks, who were originally from Pennsylvania but were living in Ohio when Thomas was born. The family moved to Madison, in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1820, where his uncle, William Hendricks was a successful politician who became governor of Indiana in 1822 and a U.S. Senator in 1825. Thomas graduated from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, class of 1841. After college, Hendricks read law with Judge Stephen Major in Shelbyville and attended law school in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, studying under his uncle, Judge Alexander Thomson. Hendricks returned to Indiana, where he was admitted to the bar in 1843 and began a private law practice in Shelbyville. He married Eliza C. Morgan of North Bend, Ohio, on September 26, 1845. Their only child, a son named Morgan, was born January 16, 1848, and died in 1851, at age three.
Hendricks began his political career in 1848 when he was elected as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. He served a one-year term and was speaker of the house. He ran for Congress in 1850, serving from March 4, 1851, to March 4, 1855. He voted in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which expanded slavery into the western United States, a position which was unpopular in his home district and led to his defeat in the 1854 election.
In 1855 President Franklin Pierce appointed Hendricks as commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., a position that he had no previous qualification for. He resigned as land office commissioner in 1859 and returned to Shelby County, Indiana. In 1860 Hendricks moved to Indianapolis and campaigned as the Democratic candidate for governor of Indiana, but lost to the Republican candidate, Henry S. Lane. He practiced law until 1863 when he was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate. Hendricks spent six years in the Senate (1863 to 1869), where he was often an opponent of the "Radical Republicans", although he supported the Union and prosecution of the war, consistently voting in favor of appropriations.
Hendricks opposed reconstruction after the Civil War, arguing that the southern states had never been out of the Union and were therefore entitled to congressional representation. He also maintained Congress had no authority to reconstruct state governments. Hendricks voted against the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (the amendments which granted voting rights to males of all races and abolished slavery). He said that it was not the right time, so soon after the Civil War, to make fundamental changes to the Constitution. Hendricks opposed President Andrew Johnson's removal from office following his impeachment.
In 1868 the Indiana General Assembly was re-taken by the Republicans and Hendrick was not reelected to a second term and Republican Governor Oliver Morton took over Hendricks's Senate seat. Hendricks ran for governor of Indiana three times (in 1860, 1868, and 1872) and he won on his third attempt. In his second campaign for governor, in 1868, Hendricks lost to the incumbent, Conrad Baker, by 961 votes. Baker, who would later become one of his law partners. Following his loss in the race for Indiana governor, Hendricks retired from the Senate in March 1869 and returned to his private law practice in Indianapolis, but remained connected to Democratic party politics. In 1872, Hendricks was elected as the governor of Indiana, defeating the Republican candidate, General Thomas M. Browne, a Civil War veteran.
So how is it in 1872 that Henricks, who was running for Governor in his own state, finished second in the electoral college results for President, when he wasn't even running for that office? The Democratic Party had nominated New York Tribune editor and publisher Horace Greeley as their candidate to oppose Ulysses Grant's bid for re-election. Grant won an easy re-election over Greeley, winning the electoral college with 286 electoral votes. Greeley won in states totaling 66 electoral votes. But before the votes could be confirmed, Greeley died on November 29, 1872, twenty-four days after the election and before any of his pledged electors (from Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland) could cast their votes. As a result 63 of Greeley's electors cast their votes for other Democrats. It was Hendricks who received most of these (42). Greeley's running mate, Benjamin Gratz Brown received 18, Charles Jenkins received 2 and David Davis received 1.
Hendricks didn't seem to upset about not winning an office that he hadn't even run for. He became the first Democrat in a northern state to win a governorship after the American Civil War. The legislature had been under continual Republican control for twenty years and the Republican controlled legislature prevented him from achieving many of his legislative goals. His term was during a difficult period of post-war depression following the Panic of 1873 that led to a major economic downturn in the state, with high unemployment, business failures, labor strikes, and falling farm prices. Hendricks twice called out the state militia to end workers' strikes: a mining strike in Clay County and a railroad workers' strike in Logansport. The militia was used to protect strikebreakers, who continued operations until the strike ended.
Hendricks ran for vice president of the United States on the Democratic Party's ticket in 1876 and 1884. He was on the losing ticket in the controversial election of 1876 won by Rutherford Hayes in a contest decided in Congress. Hendricks did not attend the Democratic convention in St. Louis, but he was nominated unanimously. With twenty electoral votes in dispute, a fifteen-member Electoral Commission, which included five persons each from the House, Senate, and Supreme Court, was created to determine the outcome. The commission made its decisions, each one by and 8 to 7 party line vote, awarding all the disputed votes from the southern states of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida to the Republican candidates, who won the election.
Hendricks attended the Democratic Party's national convention in Chicago in 1884, as chairman of the Indiana delegation, and was once again nominated for vice-president of the United States by unanimous vote, on a ticket with Grover Cleveland. The Democratic Party's strategy needed each man on the ticket to win his home state. The Democrats narrowly won New York, but Hendricks carried Indiana.
Hendricks would not enjoy the position of Vice-President for long. He had been in poor health for several years, and he served as Vice President only for the last eight months of his life, from his inauguration on March 4 until his death on November 25, 1885. Hendricks died unexpectedly during a trip home to Indianapolis on November 25, 1885. He complained of feeling ill the morning before his death and went to bed early. He died in his sleep that night. His funeral was large, with a ceremony held in St. Paul's Cathedral in Indianapolis, and attended by President Cleveland. Hendricks is interred in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.