Thomas Andrews Hendricks

Politician, lawyer

• Born: September 7, 1819
• Birthplace: Zanesville, Ohio
• Died: November 25, 1885
• Place of death: Indianapolis, Indiana

Education: Hanover College

Significance: Thomas Andrews Hendricks was an American politician and lawyer. Throughout his political career, Hendricks served in the Indiana General Assembly, the US House of Representatives, and the US Senate. He was the governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877, and he became the twenty-first vice president of the United States in 1885 under President Grover Cleveland. Hendricks only spent eight months as vice president before passing away in November 1885.

Background

Thomas Andrews Hendricks was born on September 7, 1819, near Zanesville, Ohio. The family relocated to Indiana when Hendricks was still an infant. His parents raised him to be a devoted Presbyterian and a Jacksonian Democrat. He attended Shelby County Seminary and then enrolled at Indiana's Hanover College, where he first exhibited superior speech and debate skills. After graduating from Hanover in 1841, he moved to Pennsylvania to study law at a school run by his uncle. He returned to Indiana when he had completed his studies and was admitted to the bar in 1843. Hendricks opened a practice in Shelbyville, Indiana, and within a few years, he got involved in local politics.

Hendricks was elected to Indiana's General Assembly in 1848 and acted as a Democratic delegate at the Indiana constitutional convention in 1849. The following year, he won a seat in the US House of Representatives. During his early years in Congress, Hendricks befriended Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic senator from Illinois. He supported many of the measures Douglas introduced, including the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He supported Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law that established the states of Kansas and Nebraska and included a popular sovereignty clause that gave voters the power to decide if slavery should be allowed in their territories. Although Hendricks exhibited progressive stances on immigrant rights and the rights of religious minorities, this liberalness did not translate to racial issues. During his time as an Indiana representative, he moved to introduce pro-segregation laws that limited the migration of black people into the state. Some of these views upset many of his constituents, and he lost his bid for reelection in 1854.

Hendricks was appointed commissioner of the Interior Department's General Land Office in 1855 by President Franklin Pierce. He remained in this post until 1859, when he resigned from the position due to disagreements with newly elected President James Buchanan's administration. Hendricks returned to Indiana and ran for governor in 1860. His campaign was unsuccessful. He then moved to Indianapolis where he opened his own law practice.

Political Career

After spending a few years developing his law practice, Hendricks was elected to the US Senate by the Indiana General Assembly in 1863. The United States was two years into the American Civil War (1861–1865). His party loyalty earned him leadership status among his Democratic peers. The Democrats were strongly outnumbered by Republicans, but Hendricks's speeches often impressed his Republican colleagues. During the final years of the Civil War, Hendricks remained a supporter of the conflict while working to end it as quickly as possible.

When the war did end, Hendricks lobbied for a swift return of the seceded Southern states to the Union. He was against repealing any fugitive slave laws until slavery had been formally abolished in the US Constitution. He was also opposed to giving blacks the right to vote. Despite these views, he was named as a potential Democratic candidate for the 1868 presidential race but lost the nomination to New York governor Horatio Seymour. He then returned to Indiana to run in the state's gubernatorial race. He lost the governor's race and spent the next several years focusing on his law practice and developing a new campaign for governor. He was again briefly considered as a potential presidential candidate for the 1872 election but was not selected. Hendricks finally managed to win the Indiana governorship that year, and the victory initially made him the frontrunner for the next presidential election.

A post-war economic crisis erupted across the nation around 1873, and Hendricks's political stances during this period turned many Democrats against his presidential ambitions. Democrats instead chose Samuel J. Tilden as their presidential nominee, making Hendricks their pick for the role of vice president. The Tilden-Hendricks ticket lost to the Republican nominees in a controversial election, however.

After the loss, Hendricks and his wife spent some time traveling around Europe. He eventually returned to Indiana and his law practice, and he regularly appeared before crowds to give speeches about important political topics of the day. Hendricks's speeches were always well attended, and the Indiana legislature again considered him as a possible presidential candidate for the 1880 election. His hopes were dashed when he had a stroke while on vacation in Arkansas. His health recovered, although he later developed paralysis in one of his feet that doctors attributed to his tendency to put his weight on one foot while giving speeches.

Hendricks received his second nomination for the vice presidency alongside Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland. The duo won the 1884 election, the first Democratic presidential win since 1856. Taking office in 1885, Cleveland and Hendricks often disagreed with each other's political visions. Unfortunately, Hendricks's health had been deteriorating for some time. During a trip home to Indianapolis, he died in his sleep on November 25, 1885, after serving just eight months as vice president.

Impact

Hendricks was a respected orator known for his party loyalty and unwavering political stances. President Abraham Lincoln praised Hendricks for treating his administration with fairness despite harboring conflicting opinions during the Civil War. Despite his antiquated views on race, Hendricks was marked as an effective leader throughout his career.

Personal Life

In 1845, Hendricks married Eliza Morgan. They had one child, a son named Morgan, who died when he was three.

Bibliography

Glass, Andrew. "Vice President Thomas Hendricks Dies in Office, Nov. 25, 1885." Politico, www.politico.com/story/2015/11/vice-president-thomas-hendricks-dies-in-office-nov-25-1885-216153. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018.

"Hendricks, Thomas Andrews, (1819–1885)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h000493. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018.

"Thomas A. Hendricks." Ohio History Central, www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Thomas‗A.‗Hendricks. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018.

"Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President (1885)." United States Senate, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP‗Thomas‗Hendricks.htm. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018.

"Thomas Andrews Hendricks." State of Indiana, www.in.gov/governorhistory/2362.htm. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018.