View source for Charles W. Fairbanks

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1905 to 1909}}
{{Redirect2|Charles Fairbanks|Senator Fairbanks|other uses|Charles Fairbanks (disambiguation)|and|Senator Fairbanks (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Charles W. Fairbanks
| image               = FAIRBANKS, CHARLES W. HONORABLE LOC (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption             = Fairbanks, {{circa|1900s}}
| order               = 26th
| office              = Vice President of the United States
| president           = [[Theodore Roosevelt]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1905
| term_end            = March 4, 1909
| predecessor         = Theodore Roosevelt
| successor           = [[James S. Sherman]]
| jr/sr2              = United States Senator
| state2              = [[Indiana]]
| term_start2         = March 4, 1897
| term_end2           = March 3, 1905
| predecessor2        = [[Daniel W. Voorhees]]
| successor2          = [[James A. Hemenway]]
| birth_name          = Charles Warren Fairbanks
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1852|5|11}}
| birth_place         = [[Unionville Center, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1918|6|4|1852|5|11}}
| death_place         = [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] and Arboretum, Section 24, Lot 3
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Cornelia Cole Fairbanks|Cornelia Cole]]|1874|1913|end=died}}
| children            = 5
| education           = [[Ohio Wesleyan University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])
| signature           = Charles Warren Fairbanks Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|39.8175875|-86.1711419|type:landmark|display=inline}}
}}
[[File:President Roosevelt and party at the Residence of Vice-President Charles Warren Fairbanks.jpg|thumb|President Roosevelt and party at the Residence of Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks. May 30, 1907]]
'''Charles Warren Fairbanks''' (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was the 26th [[vice president of the United States]] under President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] serving from 1905 to 1909. A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], Fairbanks was previously a [[United States Senate|senator]] from [[Indiana]] from 1897 to 1905.

Born in [[Unionville Center, Ohio]], Fairbanks moved to [[Indianapolis]] after graduating from [[Ohio Wesleyan University]]. He became an attorney and railroad financier, working under railroad magnate [[Jay Gould]]. Fairbanks delivered the keynote address at the [[1896 Republican National Convention]] and won election to the Senate the following year.<ref name="cd">{{cite web |title=S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-04562_00_00-001-0001-0000 |website=GovInfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=2 July 2023 |page=27 |date=9 November 1903}}</ref> In the Senate, he became an advisor to President [[William McKinley]] and served on a commission that helped settle the [[Alaska boundary dispute]].

The [[1904 Republican National Convention]] selected Fairbanks as the running mate for President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. As vice president, Fairbanks worked against Roosevelt's [[progressivism in the United States|progressive]] policies. Fairbanks unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination at the [[1908 Republican National Convention]] and backed [[William Howard Taft]] in 1912 against Roosevelt.

Fairbanks sought the presidential nomination at the [[1916 Republican National Convention]], but was instead selected as the vice presidential nominee, with former Associate Justice and Governor [[Charles Evans Hughes]], and would have been the third vice president to serve under different presidents (after [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] and [[John C. Calhoun]]), and the only one non-consecutively. The Hughes-Fairbanks ticket, however, narrowly lost to the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] ticket of President [[Woodrow Wilson]] and Vice President [[Thomas R. Marshall]].

==Early life==
Fairbanks was born in a [[log cabin]] near [[Unionville Center, Ohio]], the son of Mary Adelaide (Smith) and Loriston Monroe Fairbanks, a wagon-maker.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Warren-Fairbanks|title=Charles Warren Fairbanks – vice president of United States|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>  Fairbanks in his youth saw his family's home used as a [[underground railroad|hiding place for runaway slaves]].  After attending country schools and working on a farm, Fairbanks attended [[Ohio Wesleyan University]], where he graduated in 1872.  While there, Fairbanks was co-editor of the school newspaper with [[Cornelia Cole Fairbanks|Cornelia Cole]], whom he married after both graduated from the school.<ref>Harvey, Official Proceedings of the Republican National Convention, 1904, pp. 23–32, original from Harvard University, digitized October 26, 2007</ref>

==Early career==
Fairbanks's first position was as an agent of the [[Associated Press]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], reporting on political rallies for [[Horace Greeley]] during the [[1872 United States presidential election|1872 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-AobAAAAIBAJ&pg=3755,5354|title=The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref> He studied law in Pittsburgh before moving to [[Cleveland, Ohio]], where he continued to work for the Associated Press while attending a semester at Cleveland Law School to complete his legal education.  Fairbanks was admitted to the [[Ohio]] bar in 1874, and moved to [[Indianapolis, Indiana]].  In 1875 he received his [[Master of Arts]] degree from Ohio Wesleyan.

During his early years in Indiana, Fairbanks was paid $5,000 a year as manager for the bankrupt Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Western Railroad.  With the assistance of his uncle, Charles W. Smith, whose connections had helped him obtain the position, Fairbanks was able to become a railroad financier and served as counsel for millionaire [[Jay Gould]].
[[File:Charles Fairbanks photo portrait seated.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Fairbanks in his office]]
Prior to the [[1888 Republican National Convention]], federal judge [[Walter Q. Gresham]] sought Fairbanks's help in campaigning for the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] nomination for [[U.S. President]].  When [[Benjamin Harrison]] won the nomination, Fairbanks supported him and made campaign speeches on his behalf.  Afterward, Fairbanks began to take an even greater interest in politics, and made campaign speeches on Harrison's behalf again in the [[1892 United States presidential election|campaign of 1892]].  In 1893, Fairbanks was a candidate for the [[United States Senate]], but Democrats controlled the state legislature and reelected incumbent Democrat [[David Turpie]].

In 1894, Fairbanks was the most visible organizer and speaker on behalf of Republicans in elections for the state legislature.  He was credited with delivering Republican majorities to both the [[Indiana House of Representatives]] and [[Indiana Senate]], ensuring that a Republican would be elected to succeed [[Daniel W. Voorhees]] in the [[United States Senate]] at the end of Voorhees's term in 1897.  At the [[1896 Republican National Convention]], Fairbanks was both temporary chairman and keynote speaker, further raising his public profile.  Fairbanks was the most likely Republican candidate for Voorhees's seat, and in January 1897 Republican legislators formally chose him as their nominee.  On January 19, 1897, Fairbanks was elected to the Senate, and he took his seat on March 4.

===U.S. Senator===
During his eight years in the U.S. Senate, Fairbanks served as a key advisor to McKinley during the [[Spanish–American War]] and was also the Chairman of the [[Committee on Immigration]] and the [[United States Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds|Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds]]. In 1898, Fairbanks was appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission which met in [[Quebec City]] "for the adjustment of Canadian questions", including the [[Alaska boundary dispute]].{{r|cd}}

==Vice presidency (1905–1909)==
[[File:Roosevelt-Fairbanks.jpg|thumb|right|Fairbanks (r) and [[Theodore Roosevelt]]]]
Fairbanks was elected vice president of the United States in 1904 on the Republican ticket with [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and served a four-year term, 1905 to 1909. He became the first vice president to serve a complete term without casting [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents of the United States|any tie-breaking votes]] as [[President of the Senate]]. Fairbanks, a conservative whom Roosevelt had once labeled a "reactionary machine politician" (and who had been caricatured as a "Wall Street Puppet" during the campaign), actively worked against Roosevelt's progressive "[[Square Deal]]" program. Roosevelt did not give Fairbanks a significant role in his administration, and (having chosen not to seek reelection) strongly promoted [[William Howard Taft]] as his potential successor in 1908.<ref>{{cite book|title=Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary|editor1-first=L. Edward|editor1-last=Purcell|edition=4|first=Ray E.|last=Boomhower|chapter=Charles Warren Fairbanks|page=256|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]]|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zq3-BuDVQfMC&pg=PA256|access-date= June 5, 2016|isbn=9781438130712|year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=[[Theodore Rex (book)|Theodore Rex]]|first=Edmund|last=Morris|author-link=Edmund Morris (writer)|date=2002|pages=875, 937|publisher=[[The Modern Library]]|isbn=978-0-307-77781-2}}</ref> Fairbanks also sought the Republican nomination for president, but was unsuccessful and returned to the practice of law. In 1912, Fairbanks supported Taft's reelection against Roosevelt's Bull Moose candidacy.

==Post-vice presidency (1909–1918)==

===Hughes's running mate===
In [[1916 United States presidential election|1916]], Fairbanks was in charge of establishing the platform for the Republican party.  He sought that year's Republican [[President of the United States|presidential]] nomination at the party's June convention. When [[Charles Evans Hughes]] was nominated, Fairbanks was selected by the convention as the [[United States Vice President|vice presidential]] nominee, which would have returned him to office under a different president, a feat previously accomplished only by [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] and [[John C. Calhoun]]. In November, Hughes and Fairbanks lost a close election to the Democratic incumbents [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Thomas R. Marshall|Thomas Marshall]]. Fairbanks and [[Adlai Stevenson I|Adlai Stevenson]] (vice president from 1893 to 1897) share the distinction of seeking reelection to non-consecutive terms as vice president. Former vice president Stevenson ran for a second non-consecutive term with [[William Jennings Bryan]] in the [[1900 United States presidential election|1900 election]] but he and Bryan lost to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] ticket of [[William McKinley]] and [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. After the election, Fairbanks resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis, but his health soon started to fail.

===Death and legacy===
[[File:Charles W. Fairbanks grave - June 2022 - Sarah Stierch.jpg|thumb|upright|Mausoleum of Charles Fairbanks at [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2022.]]
Fairbanks died of [[nephritis]] in his home on June 4, 1918, at the age of 66, and he was interred in [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] in Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Indiana Statesman Succumbs to Intestinal Nephritis After Long Illness at His Home. His Political Career Began After He Was a Successful Railroad Attorney. Adept in Platform Making. Reporter for The Associated Press. Attorney for Jay Gould. Beginning of His Political Career. Roosevelt's Running Mate. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/06/05/archives/exvice-president-fairbanks-is-dead-indiana-statesman-succumbs-to-in.html |quote=Charles Warren Fairbanks, former Vice President of the United States and former United States Senator for Indiana, died at his home at 8:55 o'clock tonight. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 5, 1918 |access-date=March 6, 2010 }}</ref>

Fairbanks received the [[honorary degree]] of [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]] from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1901, and from [[Northwestern University]] in 1907.  The Charles W. Fairbanks Professor of Politics and Government position at Ohio Wesleyan University is named for him.

The city of [[Fairbanks, Alaska]],<ref>Mark O. Hatfield, with the Senate Historical Office. [https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/charles_fairbanks.pdf ''Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993''] (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997), pp. 313–321.</ref> and the [[Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska|Fairbanks North Star Borough]] within which it lies; the [[Fairbanks School District]] in [[Union County, Ohio]]; [[Fairbanks, Minnesota]]; [[Fairbanks, Oregon]]; and [[Fairbanks Township, Michigan]], are all named after him.

In 1966, the Indiana Sesquicentennial Commission placed an Indiana [[historical marker]] in front of Fairbanks's home at 30th and [[Meridian Street (Indianapolis)|Meridian]] Streets in Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite web|title=Home of Charles Warren Fairbanks May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918|url=http://www.in.gov/history/markers/197.htm|publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau|access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref> On May 15, 2009, an Ohio historical marker was dedicated in [[Unionville Center, Ohio|Unionville Center]], commemorating Fairbanks's birthplace.<ref>{{cite news| first=Patrick |last=Dundr |title=Fairbanks historical marker |work=Marysville Journal-Tribune |date=May 16, 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[List of vice presidents of the United States by time in office]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/lifespeechesfair00smitrich ''The life and speeches of Hon. Charles Warren Fairbanks : Republican candidate for vice-president '']
* {{CongBio| F000003 | access-date=August 28, 2010}}

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{{Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska}}
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{{United States presidential election, 1904}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbanks, Charles W.}}
[[Category:Charles W. Fairbanks| ]]
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1908 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:1904 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:1916 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Deaths from nephritis]]
[[Category:Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery]]
[[Category:Indiana lawyers]]
[[Category:Indiana Republicans]]
[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]
[[Category:Ohio Wesleyan University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Union County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees]]
[[Category:Vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Republican Party vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Republican Party United States senators from Indiana]]
[[Category:Associated Press reporters]]
[[Category:Theodore Roosevelt administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Fairbanks, Alaska]]
[[Category:Fairbanks family|Charles W.]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]