John Sherman
John Sherman | |
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John James Ingalls | |
United States Senator from Ohio | |
In office March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1897 | |
Preceded by | Allen G. Thurman |
Succeeded by | Mark Hanna |
In office March 21, 1861 – March 8, 1877 | |
Preceded by | Salmon P. Chase |
Succeeded by | Stanley Matthews |
32nd United States Secretary of the Treasury | |
In office March 10, 1877 – March 3, 1881 | |
President | Rutherford B. Hayes |
Preceded by | Lot M. Morrill |
Succeeded by | William Windom |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 13th district | |
In office March 4, 1855 – March 21, 1861 | |
Preceded by | William D. Lindsley |
Succeeded by | Samuel T. Worcester |
Personal details | |
Born | Lancaster, Ohio, U.S. | May 10, 1823
Died | October 22, 1900 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 77)
Resting place | Mansfield City Cemetery |
Political party |
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Spouse |
Margaret Stewart (m. 1848) |
Children | Mary Sherman (adopted) |
Relatives |
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Signature | |
John Sherman (May 10, 1823 – October 22, 1900) was an American politician from
A member of the
Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Sherman later moved to Mansfield, Ohio, where he began a law career before entering politics. Initially a Whig, Sherman was among those anti-slavery activists who formed what became the Republican Party. He served three terms in the House of Representatives. As a member of the House, Sherman traveled to Kansas to investigate the unrest between pro- and anti-slavery partisans there. He rose in party leadership and was nearly elected Speaker in 1859. Sherman was elected to the Senate in 1861. As a senator, he was a leader in financial matters, helping to redesign the United States' monetary system to meet the needs of a nation torn apart by civil war. He also served as the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee during his 32 years in the Senate. After the war, he worked to produce legislation that would restore the nation's credit abroad and produce a stable, gold-backed currency at home.
Serving as Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of
Early life and education
Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio on May 10 1823, to Charles Robert Sherman and his wife, Mary Hoyt Sherman, the eighth of their 11 children.[1] John Sherman's grandfather, Taylor Sherman, a Connecticut lawyer and judge, first visited Ohio in the early nineteenth century, gaining title to several parcels of land before returning to Connecticut.[2] After Taylor's death in 1815, his son Charles, newly married to Mary Hoyt, moved the family west to Ohio.[2] Several other Sherman relatives soon followed, and Charles became established as a lawyer in Lancaster.[2] By the time of John Sherman's birth, Charles had just been appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio.[3]
Sherman's father died suddenly in 1829, leaving his mother to care for 11 children.[4] Several of the oldest children, including Sherman's older brother William Tecumseh Sherman, were fostered with nearby relatives, but John and his brother Hoyt stayed with their mother in Lancaster until 1831.[4] In that year, Sherman's father's cousin (also named John Sherman) took Sherman into his home in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he enrolled in school. The elder John Sherman intended for his namesake to study there until he was ready to enroll at nearby Kenyon College, but Sherman disliked school and was, in his own words, "a troublesome boy".[5] In 1835, he returned to his mother's home in Lancaster.[6] Sherman continued his education there at a local academy where, after being briefly expelled for punching a teacher, he studied for two years.[7]
In 1837, Sherman left school and found a job as a junior surveyor on construction of improvements to the Muskingum River.[8] Because he had obtained the job through Whig Party patronage, the election of a Democratic governor in 1838 meant that Sherman and the rest of his surveying crew were discharged from their jobs in June 1839.[8] The following year, he moved to Mansfield to study law in the office of his older brother, Charles Taylor Sherman.[9] He was admitted to the bar in 1844 and joined his brother's firm.[10] Sherman quickly became successful at the practice of law, and by 1847 had accumulated property worth $10,000 (~$277,256 in 2023) and was a partner in several local businesses.[11] By that time, Sherman and his brother Charles were able to support their mother and two unmarried sisters, who now moved to a house Sherman purchased in Mansfield.[12] In 1848, Sherman married Margaret Cecilia Stewart, the daughter of a local judge.[13] The couple never had any biological children, but adopted a daughter, Mary, in 1864.[13]
Around the same time, Sherman began to take a larger role in politics. In 1844, he addressed a political rally on behalf of the Whig candidate for president that year, Henry Clay.[14] Four years later, Sherman was a delegate to the Whig National Convention where the eventual winner Zachary Taylor was nominated.[14] As with most conservative Whigs, Sherman supported the Compromise of 1850 as the best solution to the growing sectional divide.[15] In 1852, Sherman was again a delegate to the Whig National Convention, where he supported the eventual nominee, Winfield Scott, against rivals Daniel Webster and incumbent Millard Fillmore, who had become president following Taylor's death.[14]
House of Representatives
Sherman moved north to Cleveland in 1853 and established a law office there with two partners.[16] Events soon interrupted Sherman's plans for a new law firm, as the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854 inspired him (and many other anti-slavery Northerners) to take a more involved role in politics. That Act, the brainchild of Illinois Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, opened the two named territories to slavery, an implicit repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.[17] Intended to quiet national agitation over slavery by shifting the decision to local settlers, Douglas's Act instead inflamed anti-slavery sentiment in the North by allowing the possibility of slavery's expansion to territories held as free soil for three decades.[17] Two months after the Act's passage, Sherman became a candidate for Ohio's 13th congressional district.[18] A local convention nominated Sherman over two other candidates to represent what was then called the Opposition Party (later to become the Republican Party). The new party, a fusion of Free Soilers, Whigs, and anti-slavery Democrats, had many discordant elements, and some among the former group thought Sherman too conservative on the slavery question.[18] Nevertheless, they supported him against the incumbent Democrat, William D. Lindsley. Democrats were defeated across Ohio that year, and Sherman was elected by 2,823 votes.[19]
Kansas Territory
When the
Sherman spent two months in the territory and was the primary author of the 1,188-page report filed on conditions there when they returned in April 1856.
Lecompton and Financial Reform
Sherman was re-elected in 1856, defeating his Democratic opponent, Herman J. Brumback, by 2,861 votes. [27] The Republican candidate for president, John C. Frémont, carried Ohio while losing the national vote to the Democrat, James Buchanan. When the 35th Congress assembled in December 1857, the anti-Nebraska coalition—now formally the Republicans—had lost control of the House, and Sherman found himself in the minority. [28] The sectional crisis had also deepened in the past year. In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, holding that Congress had no power to prevent slavery in the territories and that blacks—whether free or enslaved—could not be citizens of the United States.[29] In December of that year, in an election boycotted by free-state partisans, Kansas adopted the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution and petitioned Congress to be admitted as a slave state.[30] Buchanan urged that Congress take up the matter, and the Senate approved a bill to admit Kansas.[31] Sherman spoke against the Kansas bill in the House, pointing out the evidence of fraud in the elections there.[31] Some of the Northern Democrats joined with a unanimous Republican caucus to defeat the measure.[30] Congress agreed to a compromise measure, by which Kansas would be admitted after another referendum on the Lecompton Constitution.[31] The electorate rejected slavery and remained a territory, a decision Sherman would later call "the turning point of the slavery controversy".[32]
Sherman's second term also saw his first speeches in Congress on the country's financial situation, which had been harmed by the Panic of 1857.[33] Citing the need to pare unnecessary expenditures in light of diminished revenue, Sherman especially criticized Southern senators for adding appropriations to the House's bills.[33] His speech attracted attention and was the start of Sherman's focus on financial matters, which would continue throughout his long political career.[34]
House Leadership
The voters returned Sherman to office for a third term during 1858.[35] After a brief special session in March 1859, the 36th Congress adjourned, and Sherman and his wife went on vacation to Europe.[36] When they returned that December, the situation was similar to that of four years earlier: no party had an absolute majority. Republicans held 109 seats, Democrats 101, and the combination of Oppositionists and Know Nothings 27.[b][37][38] Again, sectional tension had increased while Congress was in recess, this time due to John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.[38] The election for Speaker of the House promised to be contentious.[37] This time, Sherman was among the leading candidates, receiving the second-largest number of votes on the first ballot, with no candidate receiving a majority.[39] The election for Speaker was sidetracked immediately by a furor over an anti-slavery book, The Impending Crisis of the South, written by Hinton Rowan Helper and endorsed by many Republican members.[40] Southerners accused Sherman of having endorsed the book, but he protested that he had only endorsed its use as a campaign tool and had never read it.[41] After two months of balloting, no decision had been reached.[42] After their attempts to adopt a plurality rule failed, Sherman accepted that he could not be elected, and withdrew.[42] Republicans then shifted their support to William Pennington, who was elected on the forty-fourth ballot.[43]
Pennington assigned Sherman to serve as chairman of the
Sherman was renominated for Congress in 1860 and was active in
Senate
Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. Among his first acts was to nominate Senator Salmon P. Chase of Ohio to be Secretary of the Treasury. Chase resigned his Senate seat on March 7, and after two weeks of indecisive balloting, the Ohio Legislature elected Sherman to the vacant seat.[c][51] He took his seat on March 23, 1861, as the Senate had been called into special session to deal with the secession crisis.[52] The Senate that convened at the start of the 37th Congress had a Republican majority for the first time, a majority that grew as more Southern members resigned or were expelled.[53] In April, Sherman's brother William visited Washington to rejoin the army, and the brothers went together to the White House to meet Lincoln.[54] Lincoln soon called for 75,000 men to enlist for three months to put down the rebellion, which William Sherman thought too few and too short a duration.[54] William's thoughts on the war greatly influenced his brother, and John Sherman returned home to Ohio to encourage enlistment, briefly serving as an unpaid colonel of Ohio Volunteers.[55]
Financing the Civil War
The Civil War expenditures quickly strained the government's already fragile financial situation and Sherman, assigned to the Senate Finance Committee, was involved in the process of increasing the revenue.[56] In July 1861, Congress authorized the government to issue Demand Notes, the first form of paper money issued directly by the United States government.[57] The notes were redeemable in specie (i.e., gold or silver coin) but, as Sherman would note in his memoirs, they did not solve the revenue problem, as the government did not have the coin to redeem the notes should they all be presented for payment.[58] To solve this problem, Chase asked for and Congress authorized the issuance of $150 million in bonds, which (as banks purchased them with gold) replenished the treasury.[57] Congress also sought to increase revenue when they passed the Revenue Act of 1861, which imposed the first federal income tax in American history. Sherman endorsed the measure, and even spoke in favor of a steeper tax than the one imposed by the Act (3% on income above $800), preferring to raise revenue by taxation than by borrowing.[59][d] In August, the special session closed and Sherman returned home to Mansfield to promote military recruitment again.[61]
When Congress returned to Washington in December 1861, Sherman and the Finance Committee continued their attempts to fix the deepening financial crisis caused by the war. The financial situation had continued to worsen, resulting that month in banks suspending specie payments—that is, they refused to redeem their
Reform of the nation's financial system continued in 1863 with the passage of the National Banking Act of 1863. This Act, first proposed by Chase in 1861 and introduced by Sherman two years later, established a series of nationally chartered private banks that would issue banknotes in coordination with the Treasury, replacing (though not completely) the system of state-chartered banks then in existence.[68] Although the immediate purpose was to fund the war, the National Bank Act was intended to be permanent, and remained the law until 1913.[69] A 10% tax on state banknotes passed in 1865 to encourage the shift to a national bank system.[68] Sherman agreed with Chase wholeheartedly and hoped that state banking would be eliminated.[70] Sherman believed the state-by-state system of regulation was disorderly and unable to facilitate the level of borrowing a modern nation might require.[71] He also believed the state banks were unconstitutional.[72] Not all Republicans shared Sherman's views, and when the Act eventually passed the Senate, it was by a narrow 23–21 vote.[70] Lincoln signed the bill into law on February 25, 1863.[73][f]
Slavery and Reconstruction
Besides his role in financial matters, Sherman also participated in debate over the conduct of the war and goals for the post-war nation. Sherman voted for the Confiscation Act of 1861, which allowed the government to confiscate any property being used to support the Confederate war effort (including slaves) and for the act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.[75] He also voted for the Confiscation Act of 1862, which clarified that slaves "confiscated" under the 1861 Act were freed.[76] In 1864, Sherman voted for the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery.[77] After some effort, it passed Congress and was ratified by the states the next year.[77]
When the session ended, Sherman campaigned in Indiana and Ohio for
By then, Johnson had made himself the enemy of most Republicans in Congress, including Sherman.[85] Sherman, a moderate, took the side of the Radicals in voting for the Tenure of Office Act, which passed over Johnson's veto in 1867—but in debating the First Reconstruction Act, he argued against disenfranchising Southern men who had participated in the rebellion.[83] The latter bill, amended to remove that provision, also passed over Johnson's veto.[86] The continued conflict between Johnson and Congress culminated in Johnson's impeachment by the House in 1868.[84] After a trial in the Senate, Sherman voted to convict, but the total vote was one short of the required two-thirds majority, and Johnson continued in office.[84] Writing later, Sherman said that although he "liked the President personally and harbored against him none of the prejudice and animosity of some others," he believed Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act and accordingly voted to remove him from office.[87]
With
Post-war finances
With the financial crisis abated, many in Congress wanted the greenbacks to be withdrawn from circulation.[90] The public had never seen greenbacks as equivalent to specie, and by 1866 they circulated at a considerable discount, although their value had risen since the end of the war.[g][92] Hugh McCulloch, the Treasury Secretary under Lincoln and Johnson, believed the notes were an emergency measure only and thought they should be gradually withdrawn.[90] McCulloch proposed a bill, the Contraction Act, to convert some of the greenbacks from notes redeemable in bonds to interest-bearing notes redeemable in coin.[92] Most Senate Finance Committee members had no objection, and Sherman found himself alone in opposition to it, believing that withdrawing greenbacks from circulation would contract the money supply and harm the economy.[92] Sherman instead favored leaving the existing notes in circulation and letting the growth in population catch up to the growth in money supply.[93] He suggested an amendment that would instead just allow the Treasury to redeem the notes for lower-interest bonds, now that the government's borrowing costs had decreased.[92] Sherman's amendment was voted down, and the Contraction Act passed; greenbacks would be gradually withdrawn, but those still circulating would be redeemable for the high-interest bonds as before.[90] In his memoirs, Sherman called this law "the most injurious and expensive financial measure ever enacted by Congress," as the continued high-interest payments it required "added fully $300,000,000 of interest" to the national debt.[94]
The Ohio legislature reelected Sherman to another six-year term that year, and when (after a three-month vacation in Europe) he resumed his seat he again turned to the greenback question. Public support for greenbacks had grown, especially among businesspeople who thought withdrawal would lead to lower prices.[95] When a bill passed the House suspending the authority to retire greenbacks under the Contraction Act, Sherman supported it in the Senate.[95] It passed the Senate 33–4, and became law in 1868.[95]
In the next Congress, among the first bills to pass the house was the Public Credit Act of 1869, which would require the government to pay bondholders in gold, not greenbacks.[95] The 1868 election campaign had seen the Democrats proposing to repay the bondholders (mostly supporters of the Union war effort) in paper; Republicans favored gold, as the bonds had been purchased with gold.[95] Sherman agreed with his fellow Republicans and voted with them to pass the bill 42–13.[96] Sherman continued to favor wider circulation of the greenback when he voted for the Currency Act of 1870, which authorized an additional $54 million in United States Notes.[95] Sherman was also involved in debate over the Funding Act of 1870. The Funding Act, which Sherman called "[t]he most important financial measure of that Congress," refunded the national debt.[97] The bill as Sherman wrote it authorized $1.2 billion of low-interest rate bonds to be used to purchase the high-rate bonds issued during the war, to take advantage of the lower borrowing costs brought about by the peace and security that followed the Union victory.[97] The Act was the subject of considerable debate over the exact rates and amounts, but once the differences were ironed out, it passed by large majorities in both houses.[97] While Sherman was unhappy with the compromises (especially the extension of the bonds' term to 30 years, which he believed too long), he saw the bill as an improvement over the existing conditions and urged its passage.[97]
Coinage Act of 1873
The Ohio Legislature elected Sherman to a third term in 1872 after then-governor Rutherford B. Hayes declined the invitation of several legislators to run against Sherman.[98] Sherman returned to his leadership of the Finance Committee, and the issues of greenbacks, gold, and silver continued into the next several congresses. Since the early days of the republic, the United States had minted both gold and silver coins, and for decades the ratio of value between them had been set by law at 16:1.[99] Both metals were subject to "free coinage"; that is, anyone could bring any amount of silver or gold to the United States Mint and have it converted to coinage.[100] The ratio was bound to be imperfect, as the amount of gold and silver mined and the demand for it around the world fluctuated from year to year; as a metal's market price exceeded its legal price, coins of that metal would disappear from circulation (a phenomenon known as Gresham's law).[100] Before the Civil War, gold circulated freely and silver disappeared, and while silver dollars were legal tender, Sherman wrote that "[a]lthough I was quite active in business ... I do not remember at that time to have ever seen a silver dollar".[101] The issuance of greenbacks had pushed debate over gold-silver ratios to the background as coins of both metals disappeared from the nation's commerce in favor of the new paper notes, but as the dollar became stronger in peacetime and the national debt payments were guaranteed to be paid in specie, Congress saw the need to update the coinage laws.[102]
Grant's Treasury Secretary, George S. Boutwell, sent Sherman (who was by now Senate Finance Committee Chairman) a draft of what would become the Coinage Act of 1873. The list of legal coins duplicated that of the previous coinage act, leaving off only the silver dollar and two smaller coins.[102] The rationale given in the Treasury report accompanying the draft bill was that to mint a gold dollar and a silver dollar with different intrinsic values was problematic; as the silver dollar did not circulate and the gold did, it made sense to drop the unused coin.[h][104] Opponents of the bill would later call this omission the "Crime of '73," and would mean it quite literally, circulating tales of widespread bribery of Congressmen by foreign agents.[105] Sherman emphasized in his memoirs that the bill was openly debated for several years and passed both Houses with overwhelming support and that, given the continued circulation of smaller silver coins at the same 16:1 ratio, nothing had been "demonetized," as his opponents claimed.[104] Silver was still legal tender, but only for sums up to five dollars. On the other hand, later scholars have suggested that Sherman and others wished to demonetize silver for years and move the country onto a gold-only standard of currency—not for some corrupt gain, but because they believed it was the path to a strong, secure currency.[106]
In switching to what was essentially a gold standard, the United States joined a host of nations around the world that based their currencies on gold alone. But in doing so, these nations exacerbated the demand for gold as opposed to silver which, combined with more silver being mined, drove the cost of gold up and silver down.[107] The result was not apparent immediately after the Coinage Act's passage, but by 1879 the ratio between the price of gold and that of silver had risen from 16.4:1 to 18.4:1; by 1896 it was 30:1.[107] The ultimate effect was more expensive gold, which meant lower prices and deflation for other goods.[108] The deflation made the effects of the Panic of 1873 worse, making it more expensive for debtors to pay debts they had contracted when currency was less valuable.[109] Farmers and laborers, especially, clamored for the return of coinage in both metals, believing the increased money supply would restore wages and property values, and the divide between pro- and anti-silver forces grew in the decades to come.[110] Writing in 1895, Sherman defended the bill, saying that, barring some international agreement to switch the entire world to a bimetallic standard, the United States dollar should remain a gold-backed currency.[111]
Resumption of specie payments
At the same time as he sought to reform the coinage, Sherman worked for "resumption"—the policy of resuming specie payment on all bank notes, including the greenbacks. The idea of withdrawing the greenbacks from circulation altogether had been tried and quickly rejected in 1866; the notes were, as Sherman said, "a great favorite of the people".[112] The economic turmoil of the Panic of 1873 made it even more clear that shrinking the money supply would be harmful to the average American.[113] Still, Sherman (and others) desired an eventual return to a single circulating medium: gold. As he said in an 1874 speech, "a specie standard is the best and the only true standard of all values, recognized as such by all civilized nations of our generation".[114] If greenbacks were not to be withdrawn from circulation, therefore, they must be made equal to the gold dollar.
While Sherman stood against printing additional greenbacks, as late as 1872 he remained a proponent of keeping existing greenbacks backed by bonds in circulation.[115] Over the next two years, Sherman worked to develop what became the Specie Payment Resumption Act.[116] The Act was a compromise. It required gradual reduction of the maximum value of greenbacks allowed to circulate to $300 million (~$8.32 billion in 2023)[i] and, while earlier drafts had allowed the Treasury the choice between paying in bonds or coin, the final version of the Act required payment in specie, starting in 1879.[117] The bill passed on a party-line vote in the lame duck session of the 43rd Congress, and President Grant signed it into law on January 14, 1875.[118]
Election of 1876
After the close of the session, Sherman returned to Ohio to campaign for the Republican nominee for governor there, former governor Rutherford B. Hayes.[119] The issue of specie payments was debated in the campaign, with Hayes endorsing Sherman's position and his Democratic opponent, incumbent Governor William Allen, in favor of increased circulation of greenbacks redeemable in bonds.[119] Hayes won a narrow victory and was soon mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 1876.[120] The controversy over resumption carried into the presidential election. The Democratic platform that year demanded repeal of the Resumption Act, while the Republicans nominated Hayes, whose position in favor of a gold standard was well known.[121] The election of 1876 was very close, and the electoral votes of several states were ardently disputed until mere days before the new president was to be inaugurated.[122] Louisiana was one of the states in which both parties claimed victory, and Grant asked Sherman and a few other men to go to New Orleans and ensure the party's interests were represented.[123]
Sherman, by this time thoroughly displeased with Grant and his administration, nonetheless took up the call in the name of party loyalty, joining James A. Garfield, Stanley Matthews, and other Republican politicians in Louisiana a few days later.[123] The Democrats likewise sent their politicos, and the two sides met to observe the elections return board arrive at its decision that Hayes should be awarded their state's electoral votes.[124] This ended Sherman's direct role in the matter, and he returned to Washington, but the dispute carried over until a bipartisan election commission was convened in the capital.[122] A few days before Grant's term would end, the commission narrowly decided in Hayes's favor, and he became the 19th President of the United States.
Secretary of the Treasury
Sherman's financial expertise and his friendship with Hayes made him a natural choice for Treasury Secretary in 1877.[125] Like Grant before him, Hayes had not consulted party leaders about his cabinet appointments, and the Senate took the then-unusual step of referring all of them to committee.[126] Two days later, senators approved Sherman's nomination after an hour of debate, and he began lobbying his former colleagues to approve the other nominations, which they eventually did.[126] Hayes and Sherman became close friends in the next four years, taking regular carriage rides together to discuss matters of state in private.[127] In the Treasury, as in the Senate, Sherman was confronted with two tasks: first, to prepare for specie resumption when it took effect in 1879; second, to deal with the backlash against the diminution of silver coinage.
Preparing for specie resumption
Sherman and Hayes agreed to stockpile gold in preparation for the exchange of greenbacks for specie.[128] The Act remained unpopular in some quarters, leading to four attempts to repeal it in the Senate and fourteen in the House—all unsuccessful.[129] By this time, public confidence in the Treasury had grown to the extent that a dollar in gold was worth only $1.05 in greenbacks.[130] Once the public was confident that they could redeem greenbacks for gold, few actually did so; when the Act took effect in 1879, only $130,000 out of the $346,000,000 outstanding dollars in greenbacks were redeemed.[131] Greenbacks were now at parity with gold dollars, and the nation had, for the first time since the Civil War, a unified monetary system.
Bland–Allison Act
Sentiment against the Coinage Act of 1873 gained strength as the economy worsened following the Panic of 1873. Democratic Representative
Sherman pressured his friends in the Senate to defeat the bill, or to limit it to production of a larger silver dollar, which would actually be worth 1/16th its weight in gold.[134] These efforts were unsuccessful, but Allison's amendment made the bill less financially risky. Sherman thought Hayes should sign the amended bill but did not press the matter, and the President vetoed it.[135] "In view of the strong public sentiment in favor of the free coinage of the silver dollar", he later wrote, "I thought it better to make no objections to the passage of the bill, but I did not care to antagonize the wishes of the President."[136] Congress overrode Hayes's veto and the bill became law.[128] The effects of the Bland–Allison Act were limited: the premium on gold over silver continued to grow, and financial conditions in the country continued to improve.[137]
Civil service reform
Hayes took office determined to reform the system of civil service appointments, which had been based on the
Hayes issued an
During a congressional recess in July 1878, Hayes finally sacked Arthur and Cornell (Sharpe's term had expired) and appointed replacements. When Congress reconvened, Sherman pressured his former Senate colleagues to confirm the President's replacement nominees, which they did after considerable debate.
Election of 1880
Hayes had pledged himself to a one-term presidency, and the Republican nomination in 1880 attracted many candidates, including Sherman. Hayes's preference was for Sherman to succeed him, but he made no official endorsement, and he did not think Sherman could win the nomination.
After the other candidates had been nominated, the first ballot showed Grant leading with 304 votes and Blaine in second with 284; Sherman's 93 placed him in a distant third, and no candidate had the required majority of 379.[148] Sherman's delegates could swing the nomination to either Grant or Blaine, but he refused to release them through twenty-eight ballots in the hope that the anti-Grant forces would desert Blaine and flock to him.[148] By the end of the first day, it was clear that neither Grant nor Blaine could muster a majority; a compromise candidate would be necessary.[150] Sherman held out hope that he would be that compromise candidate, but while his vote tally reached as high as 120, he never commanded even all of Ohio's delegates.[148] His divided home-state support was likely fatal to his cause, as Blaine delegates, searching for a new champion, did not think Sherman would make a popular candidate.[151] After several days of balloting, Blaine's men found their compromise candidate, but instead of Sherman they shifted their votes to his fellow Ohioan, Garfield. By the thirty-sixth ballot, Garfield had 399 votes, enough for victory.[148]
Sherman was respected among his fellow Republicans for his intelligence and hard work, but there were always doubts about his potential as a national candidate. As one author described him, Sherman was "thin as a rail, over six feet high, with close cropped beard and possessed of bad teeth and a divine laugh, when he laughs".[152] His public speeches were adequate and informative, but never "of a sort to arouse a warm feeling for John Sherman, the man."[153] Unlike Blaine or Conkling, Sherman "communicated no colorful personality, no magnetic current".[153] His nickname, "the Ohio Icicle," deserved or not, hindered his presidential ambitions.
Garfield placated the pro-Grant faction by endorsing Chester A. Arthur as nominee for Vice President. Despite his good relations with Arthur in 1879, Sherman thought the choice a bad one: "The nomination of Arthur is a ridiculous burlesque," he wrote in a letter to a friend, "and I am afraid was inspired by a desire to defeat the ticket ... His nomination attaches to the ticket all the odium of machine politics, and will greatly endanger the success of Garfield."[154] He was nearly correct, as Garfield eked out a narrow victory over the Democratic nominee Winfield Scott Hancock. Sherman continued at the Treasury for the rest of Hayes's term, leaving office March 3, 1881.
Return to the Senate
The Ohio legislature had elected Garfield to the Senate in 1880, and when he was elected president before taking his seat, they elected Sherman in his place.
Garfield's assassination and the Pendleton Act
After the special session of Congress had adjourned, Sherman returned home to Mansfield.[160] He spoke on behalf of Ohio Governor Charles Foster's effort for a second term and went to Kenyon College with ex-President Hayes, where he received an honorary degree.[160] Sherman looked forward to staying with his wife at home for an extended period for the first time in years, when news arrived that Garfield had been shot in Washington.[160] The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was a deranged office-seeker who believed that Garfield's successor would appoint him to a patronage job.[161] After lingering for several months, Garfield died, and Arthur became president. After completing a long-planned visit to Yellowstone National Park and other Western sites with his brother William, Sherman returned to a second special session of Congress in October 1881.[162]
Garfield's assassination by an office-seeker amplified the public demand for civil service reform.
Mongrel Tariff
There was relatively little financial legislation in the 1880s.
Chinese immigration
Sherman paid greater attention to foreign affairs during the second half of his Senate career, serving as chairman of the
Further presidential ambitions
In 1884, Sherman again ran for the Republican nomination, but his campaign never gained steam.[174] Blaine was considered the favorite and President Arthur also gathered delegates in an attempt to win the term in his own right.[175] Again, the Ohio delegation failed to unite behind Sherman, and he entered the convention with only 30 total delegates pledged to him.[176] Former Cincinnati judge Joseph B. Foraker gave a speech nominating Sherman, but it drew little attention. Blaine gathered support the next day, and Sherman withdrew after the fourth ballot.[177] Blaine was duly nominated and went on to lose the election to Democrat Grover Cleveland of New York, the Republicans' first loss in 28 years. Sherman returned to the Senate where, in 1885, he was elected President pro tempore of the Senate.[178] After the death of Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks later that year, Sherman was next in line to the presidency until February 26, 1887, when he resigned the position.[178]
In 1886, the Ohio legislature elected Sherman to a fifth term but, before long, he was considering another run for the presidency. To broaden his national image, he traveled to
Interstate commerce
For some time, there had been concern about the power of the railroads and the way they charged different rates for different customers.
Sherman Antitrust Act
By the late nineteenth century, businesses began to form combinations, known as
The bill passed the Senate by an overwhelming 52–1 vote and passed the House without dissent. President Harrison signed the bill into law on July 2, 1890.[191] When Harrison signed the Act, he remarked, "John Sherman has fixed General Alger."[195] Sherman was the prime mover in getting the bill passed and became "by far the most articulate spokesman for antitrust in Congress".[196] The Act was later criticized for its simple language and lack of defined terms, but Sherman defended it, saying that it drew on common-law language and precedents.[197] He also denied that the Act was anti-business at all, saying that it only opposed unfair business practices.[197] Sherman emphasized that the Act aimed not at lawful competition, but at illegal combination.[198] The later analysis was more generous: "The Sherman Act was as good an antitrust law as the Congress of 1890 could have devised."[199]
Silver Purchase Act
Since the passage of the Bland–Allison Act in 1878, there had been little discussion of gold versus silver coinage. Silver had been hardly mentioned in the 1888 campaign, and Harrison's exact position on the issue was initially unclear, but his appointment of a silverite Treasury Secretary, William Windom, encouraged the free silver supporters.[200] Silver supporters' numbers had grown in Congress with the addition of new Western states. The drop in agricultural prices, which made farmers' debts harder to pay, broadened their cause's appeal. Harrison attempted to steer a middle course between the two positions, advocating a free coinage of silver, but at its own value, not at a fixed ratio to gold.[201] This served only to disappoint both factions. Windom suggested keeping the Bland–Allison system, but doubling the amount of silver allowed to be coined.[202] The intrinsic value of the silver dollar had fallen to 72.3 cents, but Windom believed (though gold supporters doubted) that coining more silver would increase demand and raise its value.[203] Harrison was willing to sign whatever bill would satisfy the largest group of people, as long as it did not make the currency unsound.[201]
Both Houses of Congress were majority-Republican, but their solutions differed. The House passed a bill in June 1890 requiring the government to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver each month (in addition to the $2–4 million required to be coined under Bland–Allison).
In 1893, a financial panic struck the stock market, and the nation soon faced an acute economic depression. The panic was worsened by the acute shortage of gold that resulted from the increased coinage of silver, and President Cleveland, who had replaced Harrison that March, called Congress into session and demanded repeal of the part of the Act requiring the government to purchase silver.[206] The effects of the panic had driven more moderates to support repeal; even so, the silverites rallied their following at a convention in Chicago, and the House debated for fifteen weeks before passing the repeal by a considerable margin.[207] In the Senate, the repeal of silver purchase was equally contentious, but Cleveland convinced enough Democrats to stand by him that they, along with eastern Republicans, formed a 48–37 majority.[208] Sherman voted for repeal of "his" bill.[209] After repeal, depletion of the Treasury's gold reserves continued, but at a lesser rate and subsequent bond issues replenished supplies of gold.[210] Academic debate continues over the efficacy of the bond issues, but the consensus is that the repeal of the Silver Purchase Act was, at worst, unharmful and, at best, useful in restoring the nation's financial health.[210]
Final years in the Senate
Sherman was elected in 1892 to a sixth term, easily defeating the Democratic candidate in the state legislature.[211] The more difficult fight had been for the Republican caucus's vote, as many preferred Foraker to Sherman.[212] With assistance from Cleveland businessman Mark Hanna, and after four days of balloting, the caucus agreed to support Sherman over Foraker, and he was reelected by the full legislature on January 12, 1893.[213] In 1894, Sherman surpassed Thomas Hart Benton's record for longest tenure in the Senate.[l][214] His memoirs, Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet, were published the following year. In 1896 he gave speeches on behalf of fellow Ohioan William McKinley in his campaign for the presidency, but took a lesser role than in previous campaigns because of his advanced age.[215] McKinley was elected over Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
Sherman became known as a "friend of England" in Washington DC. He frequently made reference to British history in his speeches. Sherman believed there was a lot America could learn from England as an example with respects to economic systems, railroads and governance, and he was fond of highlighting the English origins of American political thought. While a sitting senator, Sherman travelled to the United Kingdom where he met with William Ewart Gladstone who at the time was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He also met with John Bright and attended a speech given by Benjamin Disraeli. He returned even more convinced than he already had been that it was "in America's interests to pursue a close and amiable relationship with Great Britain." Winfield Scott Kerr wrote that "John Bright was in many respects the same type of statesman as John Sherman. A great speaker, and yet simple, direct and unostentatious to a degree approaching plainness." Out of all of the British statesmen who Sherman met overseas he was "most impressed" with John Bright, who was "in the prime of his strong, rugged, simple mahood" when Sherman met him.[216]
Wishing to see the appointment of Hanna, his friend and political manager, to the Senate, McKinley created a vacancy by appointing Sherman to his cabinet as Secretary of State.[217]
Secretary of State
In January 1897, McKinley offered Sherman the Secretary of State position, which Sherman, facing a difficult re-election campaign in 1898, quickly accepted.[218] His appointment was swiftly confirmed when Congress convened that March.[219] The appointment was seen as a good one, but many in Washington soon began to question whether Sherman, at age 73, still had the strength and intellectual vigor to handle the job; rumors circulated to that effect, but McKinley did not believe them.[220] Asked for advice on the inaugural address, Sherman offered a draft threatening intervention in Cuba, then in rebellion against Spain; the suggestion was ignored.[218]
Both Sherman and McKinley sought a peaceful resolution to the Cuban War, preferably involving an independent Cuba without American intervention.
War fever ran high, and by April, McKinley reported to Congress that efforts at diplomatic resolution had failed; a week later, Congress
Retirement, death, and legacy
Sherman retired from public life after resigning as Secretary of State. Except for one day,
Sherman was not unmindful of his legacy and left $10,000 in his will for a biography to be written "by some competent person".[234] Two biographies were published shortly after that, but neither mentions the bequest. In 1906, Congressman Theodore E. Burton of Ohio published a biography; two years later, former Representative Winfield S. Kerr of Mansfield published another. Both were very favorable to Sherman. A scholarly biography was said to be in preparation in Allan Nevins's "American Political Leaders" series of the 1920s and 1930s, to be written by Roy Franklin Nichols and his wife, Jeanette Paddock Nichols, but the work was never completed.[235] Jeanette Nichols later published several articles on Sherman in the next few decades, but he still awaits a full-length scholarly biography. He is most remembered now for the antitrust act that bears his name. Burton, in summing up his subject, wrote:
It is true that there was much that was prosaic in the life of Sherman, and that his best efforts were not connected with that glamour which gains the loudest applause; but in substantial influence upon those characteristic features which have made this country what it is, and in the unrecognized but permanent results of efficient and patriotic service for its best interests, there are few for whom a more beneficial record can be claimed.[236]
Social organizations
Sherman was a charter member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He served as one of the Society's vice presidents from 1891 to 1893.[237]
Notes
- ^ At that time, Congress did not convene as soon as they took office (March), but usually waited until the end of the year.
- ^ Sherman and his biographer, Burton, give these figures, but other references give different breakdowns of party membership. See, e.g., "Congress Profiles: 36th Congress (1859–1861)". History, Art & Archives. House of Representatives. This illustrates the difficulty in assigning party designations to a time of shifting loyalties and creation of a new party system.
- ^ Before the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913, senators were chosen by their states' legislatures.
- ^ The income tax was collected until 1870, when it was repealed.[60]
- ^ The Senate did amend the bill to provide that interest on the national debt would continue to be paid in specie.
- ^ The 1863 Act was followed a year later by the National Banking Act of 1864, which made various technical fixes and added a tax on state banks' deposits.[74]
- ^ During the war, it had taken up to $2.80 in greenbacks to buy one gold dollar. By 1866, the greenback had gained value, but it still took almost $1.50 in notes to equal the purchasing power of one dollar in gold.[91]
- ^ The Act did introduce a new silver dollar, the Trade dollar, that was intended for overseas trade only, but was legal tender domestically for sums up to five dollars.[103]
- ^ The Act required that for every $100 increase in the circulation of gold-backed national bank notes, $80 in greenbacks should be withdrawn.[117]
- ^ Now codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1.
- ^ Now codified at 15 U.S.C. § 2.
- ^ Sherman's record was broken by William B. Allison in 1905. The current record for longest Senate service is held by Robert Byrd.
- ^ March 3, 1881, after his resignation as Treasury Secretary but before his swearing-in as senator.
References
- ^ Burton, pp. 1–5.
- ^ a b c W. Sherman, pp. 9–10.
- ^ W. Sherman, pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 26–29.
- ^ Burton, pp. 5–6; J. Sherman, p. 30.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 32.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Burton, p. 7.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 47–51.
- ^ Burton, p. 16.
- ^ Burton, p. 17.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 78.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b c Burton, p. 31.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 94.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 91.
- ^ a b Freehling 1990, pp. 554–565.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 101–104.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 105.
- ^ Gienapp, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Harrington, pp. 641–643; J. Sherman, pp. 111–113.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 115–116; Sibley, pp. 3–4.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 115–116; Burton, pp. 39–41.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 117–131.
- ^ Burton, p. 42.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 43–44.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 139.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Freehling 2007, pp. 109–110.
- ^ a b Freehling 2007, pp. 136–141.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 52–53.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 152.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 153–156.
- ^ Burton, pp. 58–60.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 167.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 161–166.
- ^ a b Burton, p. 61.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, p. 168.
- ^ Crenshaw, p. 323.
- ^ Crenshaw, p. 324.
- ^ Crenshaw, p. 325.
- ^ a b Crenshaw, pp. 326–327.
- ^ Crenshaw, p. 328.
- ^ Burton, pp. 65–66.
- ^ a b c d Burton, pp. 67–73; J. Sherman, pp. 182–193.
- ^ Burton, p. 65; J. Sherman, pp. 229–230.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 197–201; Burton, pp. 75–76.
- ^ Burton, p. 76.
- ^ a b Bryant, pp. 501–502.
- ^ Burton, p. 76; Bryant, pp. 520–524.
- ^ Burton, pp. 76–77.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 234.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 232–233.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 241–245; W. Sherman, pp. 185–186.
- ^ Burton, pp. 84–85; J. Sherman, pp. 245–250; Nichols 1968, p. 126.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 258–259; Burton, pp. 88–90.
- ^ a b Dam, p. 372.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 258–259.
- ^ Burton, pp. 120–123, 129.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 307.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 262–267.
- ^ a b c Dam, p. 373.
- ^ Million, p. 251.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 270.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 272–274.
- ^ Unger, p. 15.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 275–280.
- ^ a b Dam, p. 375.
- ^ Million, pp. 255–256.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, p. 284.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 284–291.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 291–292.
- ^ Burton, p. 137.
- ^ Burton, p. 138.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 310–313.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 314–316.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, p. 335.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 348.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 351–355.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 359.
- ^ Burton, pp. 148–154.
- ^ Burton, pp. 155–156.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 158–160.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 164–165.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 369–370.
- ^ Burton, pp. 161–163; Foner, pp. 274–277.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 427–432.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 166–171.
- ^ Foner, pp. 454–455.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 172–180.
- ^ Smith & Smith, p. 698.
- ^ a b c d J. Sherman, pp. 377–384.
- ^ Nichols 1934, p. 185.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 384–385.
- ^ a b c d e f Burton, pp. 182–185.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 448.
- ^ a b c d J. Sherman, pp. 451–458.
- ^ Hoogenboom, pp. 237–238; Nichols 1968, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Friedman, p. 1162; J. Sherman, pp. 459–462.
- ^ a b Friedman, pp. 1161–1163.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 465.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 462–464.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 543–544.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 464–466.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 1165–1167.
- ^ Friedman, p. 1166; Weinstein, p. 312.
- ^ a b Friedman, pp. 1168–1169.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 1169–1171.
- ^ a b Hoogenboom, p. 356.
- ^ Unger, p. 358.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 470.
- ^ Burton, p. 226.
- ^ Burton, pp. 228–229.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 491.
- ^ Burton, pp. 233–234.
- ^ Nichols 1934, p. 186.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 244–247.
- ^ Burton, pp. 248–249.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 521–523.
- ^ Hoogenboom, pp. 257–260; Foner, p. 557.
- ^ Burton, pp. 252–254.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 255–257; Hoogenboom, pp. 256–295.
- ^ a b J. Sherman, pp. 553–557; Nichols 1968, pp. 132–133.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 556–561.
- ^ Davison, p. 104; Nichols 1934, p. 186.
- ^ a b Hoogenboom, pp. 301–302.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 808.
- ^ a b c Hoogenboom, pp. 358–360.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 597.
- ^ Smith & Smith, p. 704.
- ^ Trefousse, p. 107.
- ^ a b Davison, pp. 176–177.
- ^ Nichols 1934, p. 187.
- ^ Burton, pp. 266–267.
- ^ Davison, pp. 176–177; J. Sherman, p. 623.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 623.
- ^ Burton, pp. 268–269.
- ^ Trefousse, pp. 93–94.
- ^ a b Hoogenboom, pp. 318–319.
- ^ Davison, p. 164–165.
- ^ a b c Hoogenboom, pp. 322–325; Davison, pp. 164–165; Burton, pp. 292–294.
- ^ Burton, pp. 292–294; J. Sherman, pp. 681–682.
- ^ a b Hoogenboom, pp. 352–355; Trefousse, pp. 95–101.
- ^ Burton, pp. 295–297; Hoogenboom, pp. 370–384.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 296–297; Reeves, pp. 155–157.
- ^ Reeves, p. 156.
- ^ Hoogenboom, pp. 415–416; Davison, pp. 104–105.
- ^ a b c d e f Burton, pp. 301–304; Muzzey, pp. 160–172.
- ^ a b Kerr, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Nichols 1934, p. 188; Kerr, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Davison, p. 106.
- ^ a b Nichols 1934, p. 189.
- ^ Burton, pp. 296–297.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 76–79.
- ^ Burton, p. 310.
- ^ a b Reeves, pp. 220–223.
- ^ Reeves, pp. 230–233.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 817.
- ^ a b c J. Sherman, pp. 819–821.
- ^ Reeves, p. 237.
- ^ J. Sherman, pp. 821–830.
- ^ a b c Reeves, pp. 320–324; Doenecke, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Doenecke, pp. 99–100.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 320–321.
- ^ Reeves, p. 324; Doenecke, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Burton, pp. 311–315.
- ^ a b Reeves, pp. 328–329; Doenecke, p. 168.
- ^ a b Reeves, pp. 330–333; Doenecke, pp. 169–171.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 316–319.
- ^ Reeves, pp. 277–278; Hoogenboom, pp. 387–389.
- ^ Reeves, pp. 278–279; Doenecke, pp. 81–84.
- ^ a b c d e Burton, pp. 328–331.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 304–305.
- ^ Reeves, pp. 368–371.
- ^ Muzzey, pp. 281–285; Reeves, p. 380.
- ^ Muzzey, p. 286.
- ^ a b Kerr, pp. 153–154.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 157–161.
- ^ Davison, p. 105.
- ^ Muzzey, pp. 366–375.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 187–190.
- ^ a b c d Muzzey, pp. 376–380.
- ^ Burton, pp. 305–306; J. Sherman, p. 1029.
- ^ Kerr, p. 192.
- ^ Nichols 1934, p. 192.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 336–339.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 340–343.
- ^ Nash, pp. 181–186.
- ^ Letwin, pp. 221–226, 234–235.
- ^ a b Socolofsky & Spetter, p. 53.
- ^ Burton, pp. 353–355.
- ^ Letwin, p. 249.
- ^ Letwin, p. 252.
- ^ Matilda, Walter. Life of Walter Quintin Gresham, 1832-1895, Volume II. p. 632.
- ^ Bork, p. 14.
- ^ a b Socolofsky & Spetter, p. 54.
- ^ Bork, p. 26.
- ^ Letwin, p. 255.
- ^ Socolofsky & Spetter, pp. 56–57.
- ^ a b c d e Socolofsky & Spetter, pp. 58–60.
- ^ Kerr, p. 235.
- ^ Burton, p. 367.
- ^ Kerr, p. 237.
- ^ Kerr, p. 240.
- ^ Welch, pp. 122–125.
- ^ Nevins, pp. 524–528, 537–540.
- ^ Nevins, pp. 541–548.
- ^ Burton, pp. 388–391.
- ^ a b Welch, pp. 126–128.
- ^ Burton, pp. 384–385.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 277–280.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 280–282.
- ^ J. Sherman, p. 1209.
- ^ Burton, pp. 402–403.
- ^ John Sherman: His Life and Public Services, Volume 1, by Winfield Scott Kerr pp. 53, 89, 91, 225, 270, 273, 336, 373, 396, 406 [ISBN missing]
- ^ Burton, pp. 404–405.
- ^ a b Gould, pp. 16–19.
- ^ Kerr, p. 386.
- ^ Kerr, p. 376.
- ^ Kerr, p. 391.
- ^ Gould, pp. 68–70.
- ^ Gould, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Gould, p. 74.
- ^ a b Burton, pp. 412–413.
- ^ Gould, pp. 56, 67.
- ^ Burton, pp. 414–415; Kerr, pp. 395–397.
- ^ Kerr, p. 398.
- ^ a b c Burton, pp. 416–417.
- ^ Kerr, p. 409.
- ^ Columnist, Timothy Brian McKee (October 23, 2022). "The Sherman funeral in 1900: Mansfield's favorite son comes home to rest". Richland Source. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Kerr, pp. 422–424.
- ^ "Proclamation 451—Announcing the Death of John Sherman | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ New York Times 1900.
- ^ Nevins, p. flyleaf.
- ^ Burton, p. 429.
- ^ "About – National Society Sons of the American Revolution". www.sar.org. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
Sources
- Books
- OCLC 2693291.
- Davison, Kenneth E. (1972). The Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-8371-6275-1.
- Doenecke, Justus D. (1981). The Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. American Presidency. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0208-7.
- ISBN 978-0-06-093716-4.
- ISBN 0-19-505814-3.
- Freehling, William W. (2007). The Road to Disunion: Volume 2 Secessionists Triumphant 1854–1861. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505815-4.
- Gienapp, William E. (1987). The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852–1856. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505501-2.
- Gould, Lewis L. (1980). The Presidency of William McKinley. American Presidency. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0206-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7006-0641-2.
- OCLC 823261.
- Muzzey, David Saville (1934). James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company. OCLC 656771.
- OCLC 1373564.
- ISBN 978-0-394-46095-6.
- Sherman, John (1895). Recollections of Forty years in the House, Senate and Cabinet. Chicago: The Werner Company. OCLC 5438111.
- Sherman, William T. (1990) [1875]. Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman. New York: Literary Classics of the United States. ISBN 0-940450-65-8.
- Socolofsky, Homer E.; Spetter, Allan B. (1987). The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison. American Presidency. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0320-6.
- ISBN 978-0-8050-6907-5.
- ISBN 0-691-04517-8.
- Welch, Richard E. Jr. (1988). The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland. American Presidency. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0355-7.
- Articles
- S2CID 154406679.
- Bryant, A. Christopher (2003). "Stopping Time: The Pro-Slavery and 'Irrevocable' Thirteenth Amendment". Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. 26: 501–549.
- Crenshaw, Ollinger (December 1942). "The Speakership Contest of 1859–1860: John Sherman's Election a Cause of Disruption?". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 29 (3): 323–338. JSTOR 1897913.
- S2CID 141872405.
- S2CID 153940661.
- Harrington, Fred Harvey (December 1936). "Nathaniel Prentiss Banks: A Study in Anti-Slavery Politics". The New England Quarterly. 9 (4): 626–654. JSTOR 360988.
- Letwin, William L. (Winter 1956). "Congress and the Sherman Antitrust Law: 1887–1890". The University of Chicago Law Review. 23 (2): 221–258. JSTOR 1598473.
- Million, John Wilson (March 1894). "The Debate on the National Bank Act of 1863". Journal of Political Economy. 2 (2): 251–280. JSTOR 1819470.
- Nash, Gerald D. (July 1957). "Origins of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887". Pennsylvania History. 24 (3): 181–190. JSTOR 27769741.
- Nichols, Jeanette Paddock (September 1934). "John Sherman: A Study in Inflation". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 21 (2): 181–194. JSTOR 1896890.
- Nichols, Jeanette Paddock (1968). "Rutherford B. Hayes and John Sherman". Ohio History. 77: 125–38. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007.
- Sibley, Joel H. (Summer 1989). "After 'The First Northern Victory': The Republican Party Comes to Congress, 1855–1856". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 20 (1): 1–24. JSTOR 204047.
- Smith, Gregor W.; Smith, R. Todd (September 1997). "Greenback-Gold Returns and Expectations of Resumption, 1862–1879" (PDF). The Journal of Economic History. 57 (3): 697–717. S2CID 154574399.
- Weinstein, Allen (September 1967). "Was There a 'Crime of 1873'?: The Case of the Demonetized Dollar". The Journal of American History. 54 (2): 307–326. JSTOR 1894808.
- Newspaper
- "John Sherman's Estate" (PDF). The New York Times. October 27, 1900.
External links
- United States Congress. "John Sherman (id: S000346)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Works by John Sherman at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John Sherman at Internet Archive
- John Sherman at Find a Grave
- John Sherman at the Department of State
- John Sherman at the Department of the Treasury