Hannibal Hamlin
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- Vice President to:
Abraham Lincoln - Republican, from Illinois.
- Abraham Lincoln served 1861 - 1865. He died in office, in 1865, at the age of 56.
- Dates Served: Hamlin served as Vice President from 1861 - 1865.
- Political Party: Hamlin was a Republican, from Maine.
- Born: 1809.
- Died: 1891, at the age of 82.
- The presidential opponents during the 1860 campaign were:
- Campaign issues in 1860:
- Federal control over Slavery was a powder-keg ready to explode and Lincoln was
the spark that would ignite it. There was no other issue this year. The Republicans
ran Lincoln as a candidate who wasn't afraid to stand up to Southern special interests
and would strengthen the Federal government. The Democrats were hampered by running
more than one candidate, with then-Vice President John Breckinridge running for
President in the South and Stephen Douglas running in the North, not to mention
a third party led by John Bell who represented the old-school Whigs who couldn't
make up their minds on the Slavery issue. Due to the scattered situation with the
Democrats, Lincoln won the election by a clean margin. America would never be the
same again.
- Notable Facts about Hannibal Hamlin:
- Religious affiliation: Unknown.
- Hannibal was originally a lawyer. He began his political career by serving in
the Maine legislature from 1836 - 1841, then served as the first Republican
Governor of Maine.
- Hannibal was originally a Democrat, but converted to the Republican party when
it formed in 1856 in opposition to the expansion of Slavery.
- He was elected a House Representative from 1843 - 1847, then to the Senate from
1848 - 1857. He was nominated for Vice President due to his loyal service to the
new Party.
- Because of his dark complexion, rumors spread during the 1860 campaign that
he was part black, which wasn't the case.
- Unlike many in the Republican party, he was a staunch Abolitionist, arguing
for the total elimination of Slavery everywhere. Even Lincoln didn't support
this, at first.
- During his term as Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin didn't feel like he got much
respect, saying once that he felt like "a contingent somebody."
- Hannibal spent little time in Washington during his term. He showed up to open sessions of the Senate, but spent most of his time back at his home in Maine.
- For Lincoln's second term, Hamlin was dumped by his party to make room for
Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat who Lincoln hoped would appease the South,
since Johnson supported Slavery. This was the only time that a sitting President
has ever chosen a Vice President from the opposing Party. This hurt Hamlin's feelings
and, at age 55, he decided to enlist as a Private in the Maine Coast Guard, where he
served for two months as a cook.
- Hamlin was later elected by Maine to the Senate again and served from 1869 - 1881,
a staunch supporter of Radical Reconstruction.
- In 1881 he was appointed US Minister to Spain by President Chester Arthur, where he
served for one year.
- Hamlin died on the 4th of July.
Notable events during his Vice Presidency:
- Civil War, from 1861 - 1865.
A big mess.
- Homestead Act in 1862, which granted public land to squatters who had settled
on the land for at least 5 years. They were entitled to 160 acres, free.
- West Virginia is created as a result of the eastern portion of Virginia seceding
to join the Confederacy. The new state is admitted into the Union in 1863.
- The Income Tax is invented, in order to pay for the War. It was, naturally, a "temporary tax", levied by the Union at 3 percent of annual wages over $800. "Temporary" is a relative term...
- Nevada is admitted into the Union in 1864.