Evan has taught high school History and has a bachelor's degree in history with a master's degree in teaching.
An old joke says that an ''honest politician'' is an oxymoron. Whoever believes that joke to be true probably has never heard of William A. Wheeler, the 19th Vice President of the United States. His career was one of honesty and integrity. His moral virtue and humility are probably why so few people know who he was. Let's meet him.
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William Almon Wheeler was born June 30, 1819 in Malone, New York, a town near the border with Canada. His father, Almon, died when William was eight. William scrimped and saved to be able to attend the University of Vermont like his late father but could not afford to continue after two years. He returned to Malone and studied law while teaching school. In 1845, he was admitted to the bar and began his political career as a member of the Whig party, attaining the positions of town clerk, school commissioner, and school inspector.
Wheeler was the district attorney for his native Franklin County from 1846 to 1849 and in 1850 was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he served for two years. In 1858, he was elected to the state senate as a member of the new Republican Party. In 1860, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from District 16 of New York, serving from 1861 until 1863. He then returned to New York, chairing the state constitutional convention. In 1868, he was elected to the House again, the first of four consecutive terms, serving from 1869 until 1877.
During his latter stint in Congress, Wheeler chaired the Pacific Railroads committee, and the Crédit Mobilier Scandal broke. Several high-ranking members of Congress were given stocks in Crédit Mobilier, the construction company for the Union Pacific Railroad, by a representative from Iowa as a type of bribe. Wheeler turned down the stocks and then resigned his position as chair so he wouldn't be approached again. In 1873, Congress voted themselves a pay raise that was retroactive for five years in what was colloquially known as the Salary Grab Act. Not only did Wheeler vote against it, but he refused to accept it, sending the increased portion back to the U.S. Treasury.
As the scandal-ridden Grant Administration came to a close, the Republican Party wanted to nominate candidates with integrity. They ended up nominating Ohioan Rutherford B. Hayes to run for president and Wheeler for vice president in 1876. During the campaign, the Democrats tried to find anything they could that would discredit Hayes or Wheeler, but they found nothing. After the closest and most disputed presidential election the U.S. has ever seen, Hayes and Wheeler won.
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Hayes promised to serve only one term, and Wheeler did the same, from March 4, 1877 to March 4, 1881. Wheeler's wife died a year before his term began, so, to avoid loneliness, he spent a lot of time at the White House, becoming good friends with President and Mrs. Hayes. While vice president, he felt ignored, being left out of cabinet and policy meetings. After his term ended, he retired to private life back in Malone, dying on June 4, 1887.
''We 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.'' --from his acceptance speech as President of the New York State Constitutional Convention, 1867
''Mr. (Roscoe) Conkling, there is nothing in the gift of the State of New York which will compensate me for the forfeiture of my self-respect.'' --said in response to New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, the political boss of New York, when given the offer to join Conkling and his machine cohorts
''I hear the minister praying for the President, his Cabinet, both Houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, the governors and legislatures of all the states and every individual heathen . . . and find myself wholly left out.'' --on why attending church was the ''greatest trial'' of being vice president
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William Wheeler was born in upstate New York in the town of Malone, on June 30, 1819. After finishing his legal studies there, he held local office. He served in the New York State Assembly and the United States Congress before chairing the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1867. After the Convention, he returned to Congress, serving from 1869 to 1877. While in Congress, he was known for his moral character, resigning from his position as head of a committee in order to avoid being tempted by bribery and voting against the Salary Grab Act, which gave Congress a raise retroactive for five years, in 1873. After the Act passed, Wheeler returned his raise to the U.S. Treasury. Wheeler was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States on March 4, 1877 and served a full four years alongside President Rutherford B. Hayes before retiring from politics. He spent his remaining years in his hometown of Malone, New York, before passing away on June 4, 1887.
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William Wheeler was born in upstate New York in the town of Malone, on June 30, 1819. After finishing his legal studies there, he held local office. He served in the New York State Assembly and the United States Congress before chairing the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1867. After the Convention, he returned to Congress, serving from 1869 to 1877. While in Congress, he was known for his moral character, resigning from his position as head of a committee in order to avoid being tempted by bribery and voting against the Salary Grab Act, which gave Congress a raise retroactive for five years, in 1873. After the Act passed, Wheeler returned his raise to the U.S. Treasury. Wheeler was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States on March 4, 1877 and served a full four years alongside President Rutherford B. Hayes before retiring from politics. He spent his remaining years in his hometown of Malone, New York, before passing away on June 4, 1887.
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