Levi Morton
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- Vice President to:
Benjamin Harrison - Republican,
from Indiana.
- Benjamin Harrison served 1889 - 1893. He died in 1901, at the age of 68.
- Dates Served: Morton served as Vice President from 1889 - 1893.
- Political Party: Morton was a Republican, from New York.
- Born: 1824.
- Died: 1920, at the age of 96.
- The presidential opponent during the 1888 campaign was:
- Campaign issues in 1888:
- The campaign this year was a civil one, compared to 4 years earlier, since there
wasn't any obvious issue to campaign on, and voters were tired of tabloid campaigns,
for now. The main defining issue between the 2 candidates was, again, tariffs. As
usual, the Republicans backed a high tariff to protect domestic industry and
the Democrats backed a lower one to encourage foreign trade, without advocating
an outright Free Market, which at the time was not a kosher idea. Cleveland was
still very popular and he won the Popular Vote, but he lost the Electoral vote.
As Governor of New York he had fought the political machinery in the city that
was ripe with corruption. During his first term as President these smoke-filled
rooms had resurrected and had sabatoged his campaign in New York, costing him his
own state's Electoral votes. (This was accomplished by arranging for the Republicans to write a letter to the ambassador from England, asking which candidate England backed. His reply, saying that England favored Cleveland, was published in the major newspapers, and this didn't go over very well with the large Irish population of New York, who couldn't stomach any candidate who was backed by their mortal enemy, the English. So they voted the other way). Had Cleveland received their traditionally Democratic votes, he would have won the election. But he
would be back.
- Notable Facts about Levi Morton:
- Religious affiliation: Levi was a Congregationalist, a denomination of which his father had been a preacher.
- Levi Morton originally ran dry-goods stores in Hanover, New Hampshire, then in
Boston before moving to New York City in 1854. He attended school only sporadically.
- In 1863 he decided to become a banker and founded the firms "L.P. Morton Co" and later
"Morton, Bliss, and Co" in 1869. As a result he established himself as a powerful
East Coast banker.
- Morton began his political career
by being elected to the US House of Representatives, representing
New York from 1879 - 1881.
- President Garfield appointed him Minister to France, serving there from
1881 - 1885.
- He was appointed to run for Vice President on Benjamin Harrison's campaign
due to his long party-loyalty, his generous contributions to the party's
coffers, and his strong Protectionist views.
- Levi Morton's was dumped by President Harrison in his re-election campaign because of
Morton's refusal to support him in pressing for the passage of the Federal Elections
Bill which would have mandated stricter punishments for anyone intimidating blacks from
voting in the Southern states. When it came to the Senate floor, Morton was lukewarm and
the bill died. So did Harrison's respect for Morton.
- After his term as Vice President he was elected Governor of New York,
serving from 1895 - 1897.
- He later ran for the Republican ticket in the 1896 election, but lost out to
William McKinley.
- He died on his 96th birthday.
Notable Events during his Vice Presidency:
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act, in 1890, which was the first federal attempt to fight
monopolies in industry. It was pretty lame though, making a monopoly a
misdemeanor subject to a $5,000 fine. The US Supreme Court decided in 1895
that the Act only applied to "purely commercial interests" and not to
manufacturers. So it whimpered along until Teddy Roosevelt's stronger
anti-trust policies.
- McKinley Tariff Act, in 1890. Named for its sponsor, future-president William
McKinley, this legislation set the average tariff rate at the
nose-bleed level of 48 percent, the highest ever. The result was increases
in prices throughout the country, and voters reacted by turning against the
Republicans in the next election and re-electing Grover Cleveland to power.
- The paper clip is invented by Johan Vaaler in Germany, in 1890. The original paper
clip was shaped like a triangle. The modern oval-shaped paper clip was not
patented for another 19 years, by William Middlebrook in Connecticut, on April 27,
1899.
- North Dakota and South Dakota were both admitted to the Union in 1889, but no
one knows which state came first since both documents were signed at the
same ceremony and it's not certain which document was signed first.
- Washington admitted into the Union, in 1889.
- Idaho admitted into the Union, in 1890.
- Wyoming admitted into the Union, in 1890.