View source for Thomas A. Hendricks

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States in 1885}}
{{redirect|Thomas Hendricks|his uncle, the state representative|Thomas Hendricks Sr.|the musician|Tom Hendricks}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Thomas A. Hendricks
| image               = Thomas Andrews Hendricks.jpg
| office              = 21st [[Vice President of the United States]]
| president           = [[Grover Cleveland]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1885
| term_end            = November 25, 1885
| predecessor         = [[Chester A. Arthur]]
| successor           = [[Levi P. Morton]]
| order1              = 16th [[Governor of Indiana]]
| lieutenant1         = [[Leonidas Sexton]]
| term_start1         = January 13, 1873
| term_end1           = January 8, 1877
| predecessor1        = [[Conrad Baker]]
| successor1          = [[James D. Williams]]
| jr/sr2              = United States Senator
| state2              = [[Indiana]]
| term_start2         = March 4, 1863
| term_end2           = March 3, 1869
| predecessor2        = [[David Turpie]]
| successor2          = [[Daniel D. Pratt]]
| office3             = Member of the<br/>[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br/>from Indiana
| constituency3       = {{ushr|IN|5|5th district}} (1851–1853)<br/>{{ushr|IN|6|6th district}} (1853–1855)
| term_start3         = March 4, 1851
| term_end3           = March 3, 1855
| predecessor3        = [[William J. Brown (Indiana politician)|William Brown]]
| successor3          = [[Lucien Barbour]]
| birth_name          = Thomas Andrews Hendricks
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1819|9|7}}
| birth_place         = [[Fultonham, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1885|11|25|1819|9|7}}
| death_place         = [[Indianapolis]], Indiana, U.S.
| restingplace        = [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] and Arboretum, Section 29, Lot 2
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = [[Eliza Hendricks|Eliza Morgan]]
| children            = 1
| education           = [[Hanover College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| profession          = Attorney
| signature           = Thomas Andrews Hendricks Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| caption             = 1875 portrait
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|39.8171863|-86.1712459|type:landmark|display=inline}}
}}
'''Thomas Andrews Hendricks''' (September 7, 1819 – November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from [[Indiana]] who served as the 16th [[List of governors of Indiana|governor of Indiana]] from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st [[vice president of the United States]] from March until his death in November 1885. Hendricks represented Indiana in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] (1851–1855) and the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] (1863–1869). He also represented [[Shelby County, Indiana]], in the [[Indiana General Assembly]] (1848–1850) and as a delegate to the [[Constitution of Indiana#Constitutional Convention 2|1851 Indiana constitutional convention]]. In addition, Hendricks served as commissioner of the [[United States General Land Office]] (1855–1859). Hendricks, a popular member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], was a [[Fiscal conservatism|fiscal conservative]]. He defended the Democratic position in the U.S. Senate during the [[American Civil War]] and [[Reconstruction era]] and voted against the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth]], [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]], and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth]] Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He also opposed [[Reconstruction Era|Radical Reconstruction]] and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Andrew Johnson]]'s removal from office following Johnson's impeachment in the U.S. House.

Born in [[Muskingum County, Ohio]], Hendricks moved to Indiana, with his parents in 1820; the family settled in Shelby County in 1822. After graduating from [[Hanover College]], class of 1841, Hendricks studied law in [[Shelbyville, Indiana]], and [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania]]. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1843. Hendricks began his law practice in Shelbyville, moved to [[Indianapolis]] in 1860, and established a private law practice with [[Oscar B. Hord]] in 1862. The firm evolved into [[Baker & Daniels]], one of the state's leading law firms. Hendricks also ran for election as Indiana's governor three times, but won only once. In 1872, on his third and final attempt, Hendricks defeated General Thomas M. Brown by a margin of 1,148 votes. His term as governor of Indiana was marked by numerous challenges, including a strong Republican majority in the [[Indiana General Assembly]], the economic [[Panic of 1873]], and an economic depression. One of Hendricks's lasting legacies during his tenure as governor was initiating discussions to fund construction of the present-day [[Indiana State House|Indiana Statehouse]], which was completed after he left office. A memorial to Hendricks was installed on the southeast corner of its grounds in 1890.

Hendricks, a lifelong Democrat, was his party's nominee for vice president as the running mate of [[New York (state)|New York]] [[Governor of New York|governor]] [[Samuel Tilden]] in the controversial [[1876 United States presidential election|presidential election of 1876]]. Although they won the popular vote, Tilden and Hendricks lost the election by one vote in the Electoral College to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s presidential nominee, [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], and his vice presidential running mate, [[William A. Wheeler]]. Despite his poor health, Hendricks accepted his party's nomination for vice president in the [[1884 United States presidential election|election of 1884]] as [[Grover Cleveland]]'s running mate. Cleveland and Hendricks won the election, but Hendricks only served as vice president for about eight months, from March 4, 1885, until his death on November 25, 1885, in Indianapolis. He is buried in Indianapolis's [[Crown Hill Cemetery]].

==Early life and education==
Hendricks was born on September 7, 1819, in [[Muskingum County, Ohio]], near [[East Fultonham, Ohio|East Fultonham]] and [[Zanesville, Ohio|Zanesville]]. He was the second of eight children born to John and Jane (Duke) Hendricks. His father was from [[Pennsylvania]], and his mother was from [[Virginia]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=160}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=122}}<ref name="hendricksmn">{{cite web|url=http://www.hendricksmn.com/Thomas-A-Hendricks.html |title=Biography of Thomas A Hendricks |publisher=HendricksMn.com |access-date=January 4, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030012116/http://www.hendricksmn.com/Thomas-A-Hendricks.html |archive-date=October 30, 2006 }}</ref>

In 1820 Hendricks moved with his parents and older brother to [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]] in [[Jefferson County, Indiana]], at the urging of Thomas's uncle, [[William Hendricks]], a successful politician who served as a [[List of United States representatives from Indiana|U.S. Representative]], a [[List of United States senators from Indiana|U.S. Senator]] (1825–1837), and as the third [[governor of Indiana]] (1822–1825).{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=52}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=122, 123}} Thomas's family first settled on a farm near his uncle's home in Madison, and moved to [[Shelby County, Indiana]], in 1822. Hendricks's father, a successful farmer who operated a general store, became involved in politics, including appointment from President [[Andrew Jackson]] as deputy surveyor of public lands for his district.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=123}} Indiana's Democratic Party leaders frequently visited the Hendricks home in [[Shelbyville, Indiana|Shelbyville]], and from an early age Hendricks was influenced to enter politics.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=160–61}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=122–23}}

Hendricks attended local schools (Shelby County Seminary and Greensburg Academy). He graduated from [[Hanover College]] in [[Hanover, Indiana]], in 1841, in the same class as [[Albert G. Porter]], also a future governor of Indiana.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=123}}{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|p=74}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}} After college Hendricks read law with Judge [[Stephen Major]] in Shelbyville, and in 1843 he took an eight-month law course at a school operated by his uncle, Judge Alexander Thomson in [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania]]. Hendricks returned to Indiana, was admitted to the [[bar (law)|bar]] in 1843 and established a private practice in Shelbyville.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=16}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=124}}

==Marriage and family==
Hendricks married Eliza Carol Morgan of [[North Bend, Ohio]], on September 26, 1845, after a two-year courtship. The couple met when Eliza was visiting her married sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan West, in Shelbyville.{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|p=90}} The couple's only child, a son named Morgan, was born on January 16, 1848, and died in 1851, at the age of three.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=92, 93}} Thomas and Eliza Hendricks moved to Indianapolis in 1860{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}} and resided from 1865 to 1872 at 1526 South New Jersey Street, now known as the [[Bates-Hendricks#Bates-Hendricks House|Bates-Hendricks House]].<ref name=BH-HouseSite>{{cite web| title =Bates-Hendricks House: Site Assessment | publisher =Indiana Department of Natural Resources | url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/structural_surveys.html?_flowExecutionKey=_c51633E3D-7C9B-D460-3A43-25C781D6EAE8_k57ACE4CA-F222-7088-E503-BA0B7707C1D7 | access-date =August 22, 2016}} See also: {{cite web|author=Lois Hagedorn |title =National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Bates-Hendricks House | publisher =U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service| date=April 29, 1975|url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/16543/N/Bates_Hendricks_House_Marion_CO_Nom.pdf| access-date = August 22, 2016}} In {{cite web| url = https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html| title = SHAARD database | publisher=Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology | format =Searchable database| access-date = April 1, 2016}}</ref><ref name=BH-HouseMarker>{{cite web| title =Bates-Hendricks House | publisher =Indiana Historical Bureau | url =http://www.in.gov/history/markers/226.htm | access-date =August 22, 2016}}</ref>

==Early political career==
Hendricks remained active in the legal community and in state and national politics from the 1840s until his death in 1885.{{sfn|Memorial|p=16}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=162, 164}}

===Indiana legislature and constitutional convention===
Hendricks began his political career in 1848, when he served a one-year term in the [[Indiana House of Representatives]] after defeating [[Martin M. Ray]], the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] candidate.{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=97, 99–100}} Hendricks was also one of the two Shelby County delegates to the 1850–1851 Indiana constitutional convention. He served on committee that created the organization of the state's townships and counties and decided on the taxation and financial portion of the state constitution. Hendricks also debated the clauses on the powers of the different offices and argued in favor of a powerful judiciary and the abolishment of grand juries.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=109–12}}

===U.S. Congressman===
Hendricks represented Indiana as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] (1851–1855) in the [[Thirty-second United States Congress|Thirty-second]] and [[Thirty-third United States Congress|Thirty-third]] Congresses from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1855.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=160, 164}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=127}} Hendricks was chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Mileage|U.S. Committee on Mileage]] (Thirty-second Congress) and served on the [[United States House Committee on Invalid Pensions|U.S. Committee on Invalid Pensions]] (Thirty-third Congress). He supported the principle of [[popular sovereignty]] and voted in favor of the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]] of 1854, which expanded slavery into the western territories of the United States. Both positions were unpopular in Hendricks's home district in Indiana and led to defeat in his re-election bid to Congress in 1854.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}}

===Land office commissioner===
In 1855 President [[Franklin Pierce]] appointed Hendricks as commissioner of the [[United States General Land Office]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}} His job supervising 180 clerks and a four-year backlog of work was a demanding one, especially at a time when westward expansion meant that the government was going through one of its largest periods of land sales.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}} During his tenure, the land office issued 400,000 land patents and settled 20,000 disputed land cases. Although Hendricks made thousands of decisions related to disputed land claims, only a few were reversed in court,{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}} but he did receive some criticism: "He was the first commissioner who apparently had no background or qualifications for the job. ... Some of the rulings and letters during Hendricks's tenure were not always correct."<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the Rectangular Survey System | author=C. Albert White, [[Bureau of Land Management]] | year=1983 |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] |page=119 | isbn=9780160335044 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-BcVn3VhPQC&q=Hendricks&pg=PA119}}</ref>

Hendricks resigned as land office commissioner in 1859 and returned to Shelby County, Indiana.{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}} The cause of his departure was not recorded, but potential reasons may have been differences of opinion with President [[James Buchanan]], Pierce's successor. Hendricks resisted Buchanan's efforts to make land office clerks patronage positions, objected to the pro-slavery policies of the Buchanan administration, and supported the [[Homestead Acts|homestead bill]], which Buchanan opposed.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=128–29}}

===Candidate for Indiana governor===
Hendricks ran for [[governor of Indiana]] three times (1860, 1868, and 1872), and succeeded only on his third attempt. He became the first Democrat to win a gubernatorial seat after the [[American Civil War]].{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=122}}

In 1860 Hendricks, who ran with [[David Turpie]] as his running mate, lost to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidates, [[Henry S. Lane]] and [[Oliver P. Morton]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=128–29}} Three of the four men (Lane, Morton, and Hendricks) eventually served as Indiana's governor, and all four became U.S. senators.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=128–29}}

In 1868, his second campaign for Indiana governor, Hendricks lost to [[Conrad Baker]], the incumbent, by 961 votes.{{sfn|Memorial|pp=23, 24}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=134}} Baker, who would later become one of Hendricks's law partners, was elected as [[Lieutenant Governor of Indiana|lieutenant governor]] in 1864 and became governor after Morton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1867.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=134}} In the national election, Republican nominees [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and his running mate, [[Schuyler Colfax]] of Indiana, carried the state by a margin of more than 20,000 votes, suggesting that the close race for governor demonstrated Hendricks's popularity in Indiana.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=134}} Following his defeat in his second gubernatorial race Hendricks retired from the U.S. Senate in March 1869 and returned to his private law practice in Indianapolis but remained connected to state and national politics.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=24}}

In 1872, his third campaign to become governor of Indiana, Hendricks narrowly defeated General Thomas M. Browne, 189,424 votes to 188,276.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}}

===Law practice===
In addition to his years of service in various political offices in Indiana and Washington, D.C., Hendricks maintained an active law practice, which he first established in Shelbyville in 1843 and continued after his relocation to Indianapolis.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}} Hendricks and [[Oscar B. Hord]] established a law firm in 1862, where Hendricks practiced until the [[Indiana General Assembly]] elected him to represent Indiana in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] in 1863.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=125}} The law practice was renamed Hendricks, Hord, and Hendricks in 1866, after [[Abram W. Hendricks]] joined the firm. In 1873 it was renamed Baker, Hord, and Hendricks, after Conrad Baker, the outgoing governor of Indiana, joined the firm and Hendricks succeeded him as governor. In 1888 the firm passed to Baker's son, who partnered with Edward Daniels, and it became known as [[Baker & Daniels]], which grew into one of the state's leading law firms.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=125}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=162, 163}}

==High office==

[[File:Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, Ind - NARA - 528670.jpg|thumb|left|Photo of Sen. Thomas A. Hendricks (c. 1865)]]

===U.S. Senator===
Hendricks represented Indiana in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] from 1863 to 1869, during the final years of the [[American Civil War]] and the early years of the [[Reconstruction era]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}} Military reverses in the Civil War, some unpopular decisions in the Lincoln administration, and Democratic control of the Indiana General Assembly helped Hendricks win election to the U.S. Senate.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=125}} His six years in the Senate covered the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses, where Hendricks was a leader of the small Democratic minority and a member of the opposition who was often overruled.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=164}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=130, 131}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=22}}

Hendricks challenged what he thought was radical legislation, including the [[Union (American Civil War)#Soldiers|military draft]] and issuing [[Greenback (1860s money)|greenbacks]]; however, he supported the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and prosecution of the war, consistently voting in favor of wartime appropriations.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=160}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=130}} Hendricks adamantly opposed [[Reconstruction era|Radical Reconstruction]]. After the war he argued that the [[Southern United States|Southern states]] had never been out of the Union and were therefore entitled to representation in the U.S. Congress. Hendricks also maintained that Congress had no authority over the affairs of state governments.{{sfn|Memorial|p=22}}

Hendricks voted against the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth]], [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]], and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth]] Amendments to the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] that would, upon ratification, grant voting rights to males of all races and abolish slavery.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=160}} Hendricks felt it was not the right time, so soon after the Civil War, to make fundamental changes to the U.S. Constitution. Although Hendricks supported freedom for African Americans, stating, "He is free; now let him remain free,"{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=132}} he unsuccessfully opposed reconstruction legislation.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=160}}{{sfn|Thornbrough|pp=226–27}} Hendricks did not believe in racial equality. For example, in a congressional debate with Indiana Senator [[Oliver P. Morton]], Hendricks argued:

{{Blockquote |I am speaking of a race whose history for two thousand years has shown that it cannot elevate itself. I am speaking of a race which in its own country is now enshrouded by the darkness of heathenism, the darkest heathenism that covers land on earth. While the white man for two thousand years past has been going upward and onward, the negro race wherever found dependent upon himself has been going downward or standing still.&nbsp;... What has this race ever produced? What invention has it ever produced of advantage to the world?&nbsp;... This race has not been carried down into barbarism by slavery. The influence of slavery upon this race- I will not say it is the influence of slavery- but the influence of the contact of this race with the white race has been to give it all the elevation it possesses, and independent and outside of that influence it has not become elevated anywhere in its whole history. Can you tell me of any useful invention by the race, one single invention of greater importance to the world than the club with which the warrior beats to death his neighbor? Not one.<ref>{{cite journal |title=40th Cong., 3rd Sess. |journal= Congressional Globe |date=February 8, 1869 |pages= 989–992}}</ref>}}
[[File:Thomas Andrews Hendricks, photo portrait seated, 1860-65.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of Senator Hendricks, {{circa|1860–1865}}]]
Hendricks also opposed the attempt to remove President [[Andrew Johnson]] from office following his impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=160}}

Hendricks's views were often misinterpreted by his political opponents in Indiana.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=130}} When the Republicans regained a majority in the [[Indiana General Assembly]] in 1868, the same year Hendricks's U.S. Senate term expired, he lost reelection to a second term,{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}} and was succeeded by Republican Congressman-elect [[Daniel D. Pratt]], who resigned the U.S. House seat to which he had been elected in 1868 in order to accept the Senate seat.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

===Governor of Indiana===
In 1872 Hendricks was elected as the governor of Indiana in his third bid for the office.{{sfn|Memorial|p=24}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=163, 164}} An indication of Hendricks's growing national popularity occurred during the [[1872 United States presidential election|presidential election of 1872]]; the Democrats nominated [[Horace Greeley]], the [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republican]] candidate. Greeley died soon after the election, but before the Electoral College cast its ballots; 42 of 63 Democratic electors previously pledged to Greeley voted for Hendricks.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=135}}

Hendricks served as governor of Indiana from January 13, 1873, to January 8, 1877,{{sfn|Memorial|p=24}} a difficult period of post-war economic depression following the financial [[Panic of 1873]]. Indiana experienced high unemployment, business failures, labor strikes, and falling farm prices. Hendricks twice called out the state militia to end workers' strikes, one by miners in [[Clay County, Indiana|Clay County]], and one by railroad workers' in [[Logansport, Indiana|Logansport]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=160–61}}

Although Hendricks succeeded in encouraging legislation enacting election and judiciary reform, the Republican-controlled legislature prevented him from achieving many of his other legislative goals.{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=308–09}} In 1873 Hendricks signed the Baxter bill, a controversial piece of [[Temperance movement|temperance]] legislation that established a strict form of [[local option]], even though he personally had favored a licensing law. Hendricks signed the legislation because he thought the bill was constitutional and reflected the majority view of the Indiana General Assembly and the will of Indiana's citizens. The law proved to be unenforceable and was repealed in 1875; it was replaced by a licensing system that Hendricks had preferred.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=135}}

One of Hendricks's lasting legacies during his tenure as governor began with discussion to fund construction of a new [[Indiana Statehouse]]. The existing structure, which had been in use since 1835, had become too small, forcing the growing state government to rent additional buildings around Indianapolis. Besides its size, the dilapidated capitol building was in need of major repair. The roof in the Hall of Representatives had collapsed in 1867 and public inspectors condemned the building in 1873. The cornerstone for the present-day state capital building was laid in 1880, after Hendricks left office, and he delivered the keynote speech at the ceremony.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=164}} The new statehouse was completed eight years later and remains in use as Indiana's state capitol building.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=136}}

===Vice presidential nominee===
[[File:Tilden and Hendricks campaign poster.jpg|thumb|Campaign poster for the election of 1876.]]

Hendricks ran for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] in 1876 and 1884; he won in 1884.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=164–65}} The Democrats also nominated Hendricks for the vice presidency in 1880, but he declined for health reasons.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=161}} In 1880, while on a visit to [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]], Hendricks suffered a bout of paralysis, but returned to public life. No one outside of his family and doctors knew his health was failing. Two years later he was no longer able to stand.{{sfn|Memorial|pages=28, 70}}

In the disputed [[1876 United States presidential election|presidential election of 1876]] Hendricks ran as the Democratic candidate for vice president with [[New York (state)|New York]] governor [[Samuel Tilden]] as the party's presidential nominee.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=161}} Hendricks did not attend the Democratic convention in [[St. Louis|Saint Louis]], but the party was pursuing the strategy of carrying the [[Solid South]] along with New York and Indiana. The Indiana delegation urged Hendricks as the vice-presidential nominee, and he was nominated unanimously.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=137}}

Although they received the majority of the popular vote, Tilden and Hendricks lost the disputed election by one vote in Electoral College balloting to [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], the Republican Party's presidential nominee, and [[William A. Wheeler]], his vice-presidential running mate.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=137}} A fifteen-member Electoral Commission that included five representatives each from the House, Senate, and [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] determined the outcome of the contested electoral votes. In an 8 to 7 partisan vote, the commission awarded all twenty of the disputed votes from [[South Carolina]], [[Louisiana]], [[Florida]], and [[Oregon]] to the Republican candidates.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=138}} Tilden and Hendricks accepted the decision, despite deep disappointment at the outcome.{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=138}}

As chairman of the Indiana delegation, Hendricks attended the Democratic Party's national convention in 1884 in [[Chicago]], where he was again nominated as its vice-presidential candidate by a unanimous vote.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=119, 120}} [[Grover Cleveland]] was the party's presidential nominee in the [[1884 United States presidential election|1884 presidential election]]; once again the Democrats' strategy was to win New York, Cleveland's home state, and Hendricks's home state of Indiana, plus the electoral votes of the Solid South. Democrats narrowly won New York, Indiana, and two more Northern states plus the Solid South to secure the election.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=120, 121}}

==Vice presidency (1885)==
Hendricks maintained a strong working relationship with President Cleveland during his brief tenure. He spoke highly of Cleveland's character and described him as "courteous and affable". Hendricks, who had been in poor health for several years, served as Cleveland's [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] during the last eight months of his life, from his inauguration on March 4 until his death on November 25, 1885. The vice presidency remained vacant after Hendricks's death until [[Levi P. Morton]] assumed office in 1889.<ref name="hendricksmn"/>{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=138}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|pp=161, 164–65}}{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=388–90}} 
On September 8, 1885, in [[Indianapolis]], Hendricks made a controversial speech in support of Irish independence. Soon afterwards, Boston machine politician [[Martin Lomasney]] named the Hendricks Club after him.{{sfn|Van Nostrand|1948|p=442}}{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=633–637}}

===Death and legacy===
[[File:Etc 409.jpg|thumb|The tomb of Thomas Hendricks in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]]]]

Hendricks died unexpectedly of a heart attack on November 25, 1885, during a trip home to Indianapolis.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=122, 138}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=6}} He complained of feeling ill the morning of November 24, went to bed early, and died in his sleep the following day, aged 66.{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=388–90}} His reported last words were "Free at last!".

Hendricks's funeral service at Saint Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Indianapolis was a large one. Hundreds of dignitaries were in attendance, including President Grover Cleveland, and thousands of people gathered along the city's street to see the 1.2-mile-long funeral cortege as it traveled from downtown Indianapolis to [[Crown Hill Cemetery]], where his remains were interred.{{sfn|Holcombe|Skinner|1886|pp=390–403}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=31}}<ref>During the last two years of his life, as his health was failing, Hendricks made plans for his eventual death and selected a burial site and monument. In the 1880s he had the remains of his only child, Morgan, who had died thirty years earlier and was buried at Shelbyville, moved to the Hendricks burial site in Indianapolis. Morgan Hendricks is buried next to the monument that marks his father's grave. See ''Memorial Address on the Life and Character of Thomas A. Hendricks (Vice-President of the United States)'', pp. 30–31, and Gray, p. 124.</ref>

Hendricks, a popular member of the Democratic Party, remained on good terms with both Democrats and Republicans. He was a fiscal conservative and a powerful orator who was known for his honesty and firm convictions.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=164}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|p=139}}{{sfn|Memorial|p=25}}

Hendricks was one of four vice-presidential candidates from Indiana who were elected during the period 1868 to 1920, when Indiana's electoral votes were critical to winning a national election. (The three other men from Indiana who became U.S. vice presidents during this period were [[Schuyler Colfax]], [[Charles W. Fairbanks]], and [[Thomas R. Marshall]].) Five other men from Indiana, [[George Washington Julian]], [[Joseph Lane]], Judge Samuel Williams, [[John W. Kern]], and [[William Hayden English]], lost their bids for the vice presidency during this time period.{{sfn| Gray |1977|pp= ix–xi; xiii–xvii }}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=165}}

==Honors and tributes==
[[File:US-$10-SC-1908-Fr-302.jpg|thumb|Hendricks depicted on a Series 1908 $10 [[Silver certificate (United States)|silver certificate]].]]
* Hendricks remains the only vice president who did not serve as president whose portrait appears on U.S. paper currency. An engraved portrait of Hendricks appears on a $10 "tombstone" [[Silver certificate (United States)|silver certificate]]. The currency note's nickname is derived from the tombstone-shaped border outlining Hendricks's portrait.<ref>{{cite web | author =The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | title =Metal Standards: Silver Certificates | publisher =The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | url =http://www.frbsf.org/currency/metal/silvercerts/602.html | access-date =May 23, 2013 | archive-date =June 4, 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080604164035/http://www.frbsf.org/currency/metal/silvercerts/602.html | url-status =dead }}</ref>
* The Bates-Hendricks House, where the family lived from 1865 to 1872, is located in Indianapolis at 1526 South New Jersey Street, Indianapolis. The home was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on April 11, 1977.<ref name=BH-HouseSite/><ref name=BH-HouseMarker/>
* [[Thomas A. Hendricks Library]] (Hendricks Hall) at [[Hanover College]], which overlooks the [[Ohio River]] near [[Madison, Indiana]], was built in 1903. Hendricks's widow, Eliza, provided funding for the project as a tribute to her late husband, an alumnus of the college. The library was added to the National Register on February 26, 1982.<ref>{{cite web| title =Thomas A. Hendricks Library: Site Assessment | publisher =Indiana Department of Natural Resources | url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/structural_surveys.html?_flowExecutionKey=_c42ECA898-CE9B-54BD-4B3B-7654DACD76D1_k90A2B7BF-D3B6-C713-0B1A-2CEE1F05DC56 | access-date =August 22, 2016}} See also: {{cite web|author=Suzanne Jane McFall |title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Thomas A. Hendricks Library | publisher = U.S. Department of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service| date=November 29, 1979|url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/1d407/N/Thomas_A_Hendricks_Library_Jefferson_XO_Nom.pdf| access-date = August 22, 2016}} In {{cite web| url = https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html| title =SHAARD database | publisher =Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology | format =Searchable database| access-date = April 1, 2016}}</ref>
*The [[Thomas A. Hendricks Monument]] was installed on the southeast corner of the state capitol building's grounds in 1890. At {{convert|11|ft|m}} it is the tallest bronze statue on the statehouse grounds.{{sfn|Madison|2014|p=166}}{{sfn|Greiff|2005|pp=164–65 }}
*The community of [[Hendricks, Minnesota|Hendricks]] in Minnesota and the adjacent lake were named in his honor.

==Electoral history==
{{Election box begin no change |title=1872 Indiana gubernatorial election{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=163}}}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Thomas A. Hendricks
  |votes      = 189,242
  |percentage = 50.1
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[Thomas M. Browne]]
  |votes      = 188,276
  |percentage = 49.9
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=1868 Indiana gubernatorial election{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=158}}}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[Conrad Baker]]
  |votes      = 171,575
  |percentage = 50.1
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Thomas A. Hendricks
  |votes      = 170,614
  |percentage = 49.9
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=1860 Indiana gubernatorial election{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=137}}}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[Henry S. Lane]]
  |votes      = 139,675
  |percentage = 51.8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Thomas A. Hendricks
  |votes      = 129,968
  |percentage = 48.2
}}
{{Election box end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Indiana}}
*[[List of governors of Indiana]]
*[[Thomas A. Hendricks Monument]]
*[[Hendricks, West Virginia]], a town named after him

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite web| title =Bates-Hendricks House | publisher =Indiana Historical Bureau | url =http://www.in.gov/history/markers/226.htm | access-date =August 22, 2016}}
* {{cite web| title =Bates-Hendricks House: Site Assessment | publisher =Indiana Department of Natural Resources | url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/structural_surveys.html?_flowExecutionKey=_c51633E3D-7C9B-D460-3A43-25C781D6EAE8_k57ACE4CA-F222-7088-E503-BA0B7707C1D7 | access-date =August 22, 2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.hendricksmn.com/Thomas-A-Hendricks.html |title=Biography of Thomas A Hendricks |publisher=HendricksMn.com |access-date=January 4, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030012116/http://www.hendricksmn.com/Thomas-A-Hendricks.html |archive-date=October 30, 2006 }}
* {{cite journal | editor1-last = Gray | editor1-first = Ralph | title =Thomas A. Hendricks: Spokesman for the Democracy | journal =Gentlemen from Indiana: National Party Candidates, 1836–1940 | publisher = Indiana Historical Bureau | volume =50 | year =1977 | location = Indianapolis | pages =117–139 }}
* {{cite book | last=Greiff |first=Glory-June |title =Remembrance, Faith & Fancy: Outdoor Public Sculpture in Indiana | publisher =Indiana Historical Society Press | year =2005 | location =Indianapolis | isbn =0-87195-180-0}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Gugin|editor1-first=Linda C.|editor2-first=James E.|editor2-last=St. Clair|title=The Governors of Indiana|publisher=Indiana Historical Society Press |location=Indianapolis|year=2006|isbn=0-87195-196-7|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960}}
* {{cite web|author=Hagedorn, Lois |title =National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Bates-Hendricks House | publisher =U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service| date=April 29, 1975|url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/16543/N/Bates_Hendricks_House_Marion_CO_Nom.pdf| access-date =August 22, 2016}}
* {{cite web | title =Hendricks, Thomas Andrew, (1819–1885) | work = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress | publisher =United States Congress | url =http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h000493 | access-date =May 24, 2013}}
* {{cite book|last1=Holcombe |first1= John W. |first2= Hubert M.|last2= Skinner |title=Life and Public Services of Thomas A. Hendricks |year=1886 |publisher=Carlon and Hollenbeck |location=Indianapolis |url=https://archive.org/stream/pubservthomhend00holcrich}} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=JRBCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1 copy])
* {{cite book | last=Madison |first=James H. | title = Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana| publisher =Indiana University Press and the Indiana Historical Society Press | year =2014 | location =Bloomington and Indianapolis | isbn =978-0-253-01308-8}}
* {{cite web|author=McFall, Suzanne Jane |title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Thomas A. Hendricks Library | publisher = U.S. Department of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service| date=November 29, 1979 |url= https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/1d407/N/Thomas_A_Hendricks_Library_Jefferson_CO_Nom.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/r/1d407/N/Thomas_A_Hendricks_Library_Jefferson_CO_Nom.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live| access-date = August 22, 2016}}
* {{cite book | title =Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Thomas A. Hendricks (Vice-President of the United States): Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, Forty-ninth Congress, First Session | publisher =U.S. Government Printing Office | year =1886 | location =Washington, D.C. | page =[https://archive.org/details/thomashendricks00memorich/page/n10 1]| url =https://archive.org/details/thomashendricks00memorich |ref={{sfnRef|Memorial}} }}
* {{cite web | title =Metal Standards: Silver Certificates | publisher =The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | url =http://www.frbsf.org/currency/metal/silvercerts/602.html | access-date =May 23, 2013 | archive-date =June 4, 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080604164035/http://www.frbsf.org/currency/metal/silvercerts/602.html | url-status =dead }}
* {{cite web| title =Thomas A. Hendricks Library: Site Assessment | publisher =Indiana Department of Natural Resources | url =https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/structural_surveys.html?_flowExecutionKey=_c42ECA898-CE9B-54BD-4B3B-7654DACD76D1_k90A2B7BF-D3B6-C713-0B1A-2CEE1F05DC56 | access-date =August 22, 2016}}
* {{cite book | author=Thornbrough, Emma Lou |ref={{sfnRef|Thornbrough}}| title =Indiana in the Civil War Era, 1850–1880 | publisher =Indiana Historical Society | series =The History of Indiana | volume =III | year =1995 | location =Indianapolis | isbn =0871950502}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Van Nostrand |first1=Albert D. |title=The Lomasney Legend |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=4 |date=December 1948 |pages=435–458 |doi=10.2307/361565 |jstor=361565}}
* {{cite book |title=A History of the Rectangular Survey System | author=White, C. Albert| year=1983|publisher=[[Bureau of Land Management]], [[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] | isbn=9780160335044|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-BcVn3VhPQC&q=Hendricks&pg=PA119}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Thomas Hendricks}}
*{{CongBio|H000493}}
*[https://blog.history.in.gov/?p=3486 "Thomas A. Hendricks: “The Constitution as it is, the Union as it was”], Indiana Historical Bureau
*[http://www.in.gov/history/2701.htm Hendricks biography and portrait], [[Indiana Historical Bureau]]
*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h000493 Hendricks biography], Biographical Dictionary of Congress
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003232/http://indiananewspapers.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/obits-hendricks/ Hendricks obituaries], Indiana Historic Newspaper Digitization Project

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