View source for William A. Wheeler

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1877 to 1881}}
{{other people|William Wheeler}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = William A. Wheeler
| image               = VicePresident-WmAlWheeler (cropped).jpg
| office              = 19th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| president           = [[Rutherford B. Hayes]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1877 
| term_end            = March 4, 1881
| predecessor         = [[Henry Wilson]] 
| successor           = [[Chester A. Arthur]]
| office1             = Member of the<br>[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]
| term_start1         = March 4, 1869
| term_end1           = March 3, 1877
| predecessor1        = [[Calvin T. Hulburd]]
| successor1          = [[Amaziah B. James]]
| constituency1       = {{ushr|NY|17|17th district}} (1869–1873)<br>{{ushr|NY|18|18th district}} (1873–1875)<br>{{ushr|NY|19|19th district}} (1875–1877)
| constituency2       = {{ushr|NY|16|16th district}}
| term_start2         = March 4, 1861
| term_end2           = March 3, 1863
| predecessor2        = [[George William Palmer (New York politician)|George Palmer]]
| successor2          = [[Orlando Kellogg]]
| state_senate3       = New York
| district3           = [[New York's 17th State Senate district|17th]]
| term_start3         = January 1, 1858
| term_end3           = December 31, 1859
| predecessor3        = [[Joseph H. Ramsey]]
| successor3          = [[Charles C. Montgomery]]
| state_assembly4     = New York
| district4           = [[Franklin County, New York|Franklin County]]
| term_start4         = January 1, 1850
| term_end4           = December 31, 1851
| predecessor4        = George Gove
| successor4          = Darius Lawrence
| birth_name          = William Almon Wheeler
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1819|6|30}}
| birth_place         = [[Malone (village), New York|Malone, New York]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1887|6|4|1819|6|30}}
| death_place         = [[Malone (village), New York|Malone, New York]], U.S.
| resting_place       = Morningside Cemetery,<br/>[[Malone, New York]], U.S.
| spouse              = {{marriage|Mary King|1845|1876|reason=died}}
| parents             = {{plainlist|
* Almon Wheeler
* Eliza Woodworth
}}
| party               = [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]<br>[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| education           = [[University of Vermont]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| profession          = Attorney
| signature           = William Almon Wheeler Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| caption             = Wheeler in 1877
}}
'''William Almon Wheeler''' (June 30, 1819{{snd}}June 4, 1887) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 19th [[vice president of the United States]] from 1877 to 1881 under President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]].  A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he previously served as a [[United States House of Representatives|United States representative]] from [[New York (state)|New York]] from 1861 to 1863 and 1869 to 1877.

Born in [[Malone (village), New York|Malone, New York]], Wheeler pursued a legal career after attending the [[University of Vermont]]. After serving in various local positions, he won election to the [[New York State Legislature]]. He served in Congress from 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877. He was widely respected for his integrity and refused a salary increase after Congress passed an [[Salary Grab Act|1873 pay raise]] that he opposed.

After the [[1876 Republican National Convention]] settled on [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] as the party's presidential nominee after seven ballots, the delegates nominated Wheeler for vice president. Nominated by Congressman [[Luke P. Poland]], Wheeler surged into an early lead over [[Frederick T. Frelinghuysen]], [[Marshall Jewell]], and [[Stewart L. Woodford]] to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Wheeler was nominated because he was popular among his colleagues and had worked to avoid making enemies in Congress. In addition, as a resident of the populous Eastern state of [[New York (State)|New York]], he provided geographical balance to the ticket, since Hayes was from the populous [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] state of Ohio. The Republican ticket prevailed in the contentious [[1876 United States presidential election|1876 presidential election]], though they lost the popular vote. Though they had not known each other before the convention, Wheeler and Hayes got along amicably while in office. They chose not to seek second terms, and Wheeler returned to Malone, New York, after the end of his term. He died in 1887 and was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.

==Early life and career==
William Almon Wheeler was born in [[Malone (village), New York|Malone, New York]], and attended [[Franklin Academy (New York)|Franklin Academy]] and the [[University of Vermont]], although monetary concerns forced him to drop out without graduating.<ref name="tally">{{cite book | last = Tally | first = Steve | title = Bland Ambition: From Adams to Quayle-The Cranks, Criminals, Tax Cheats, and Golfers Who Made It to Vice President | publisher = HBJ | year = 1992 | location = New York | pages = [https://archive.org/details/blandambitionfro00tall/page/152 152–157] | isbn = 0156131404 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/blandambitionfro00tall/page/152 }}</ref> Wheeler received the [[honorary degree]]s of [[Master of Arts]] from [[Dartmouth College]] in 1865 and [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]] from the University of Vermont (1867) and [[Union College]] (1877). In 1876, he received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from the University of Vermont "as in course", making him a graduate of the class of 1842.<ref>{{cite book |last=University of Vermont Associate Alumni |date=1895 |title=University of Vermont Obituary Record |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIQfAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA145 |location=Burlington, VT |publisher=University of Vermont |page=79}}</ref> In 1845, he married Mary King (1828–1876).<ref name="MillerCenter">{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/president/hayes/wheeler-1877-vicepresident |title=William A. Wheeler (1877–1881) |website=U.S. Presidents: Rutherford B. Hayes |date=4 October 2016 |publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia |location=Charlottesville, VA |access-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref>

He [[reading law|studied law]] with Asa Hascall, a Malone attorney and politician who served as [[town supervisor]], [[Justice of the peace#New York|justice of the peace]], [[district attorney]], and member of the [[New York State Assembly]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=William D. |date=1858 |title=Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1858 |url=https://archive.org/details/sketchesofstat00murp |quote=william a wheeler asa hascall. |location=Albany, NY |publisher=J. Munsell |page=[https://archive.org/details/sketchesofstat00murp/page/110 110]}}</ref>  Wheeler was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1845, and practiced in Malone.  He was District Attorney of Franklin County from 1846 to 1849. He was a member of the Assembly (Franklin County) in [[73rd New York State Legislature|1850]] and [[74th New York State Legislature|1851]]; and of the [[New York State Senate]] (17th D.) in [[81st New York State Legislature|1858]] and [[82nd New York State Legislature|1859]].

He was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[37th United States Congress]], holding office from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863. He was elected to the [[41st United States Congress|41st]], [[42nd United States Congress|42nd]], [[43rd United States Congress|43rd]] and [[44th United States Congress]]es, holding office from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1877. 
[[File:William Wheeler, photo portrait seated.jpg|alt=Photo of William A. Wheeler|thumb|left|William A. Wheeler]]

During his House tenure, Wheeler served as chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads (42nd Congress) and the [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Committee on Commerce]] (43rd Congress).

Wheeler's reputation for honesty was celebrated by [[Allan Nevins]] in his introduction to John F. Kennedy's ''Profiles in Courage.'' [[Roscoe Conkling]], a Senator and New York State political boss, once offered, "Wheeler, if you will act with us, there is nothing in the gift of the State of New York to which you may not reasonably aspire." Wheeler declined with "Mr. Conkling, there is nothing in the gift of the State of New York which will compensate me for the forfeiture of my self-respect."<ref>[[John F. Kennedy]], ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'' (New York, 1956), p. xiv.</ref>

Wheeler served as president of New York's [[Northern Railroad (New York)|Northern Railroad]].<ref>Quigley, ''Second Founding'', p.53</ref>  He was also president of the New York State Constitutional Convention which met from June 1867 to February 1868. In his speech accepting the position, he made a strong case for racial equality:

{{Blockquote|"[W]e 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."<ref>Quigley, ''Second Founding'', p. 53</ref>}}

When Congress voted for a pay raise in 1873 and made it retroactive for five years (the [[Salary Grab Act]]), Wheeler not only voted against the raise but also returned his salary increase to the Treasury Department.<ref name="tally" />

Wheeler was responsible for the so-called [[Wheeler Compromise]] of 1875, which settled a volatile political situation in [[Louisiana]]<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Wheeler, William Almon|volume=28|page=586}}</ref> but eventually led to the withdrawal of federal troops and the end of [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]].

==Election of 1876==
Wheeler was a delegate to the [[1876 Republican National Convention]], which had nominated [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] for president on the seventh ballot.

[[File:Hayes-Wheeler.jpg|thumb|left|Hayes/Wheeler campaign poster]]
Wheeler was considered a "safe" choice for the vice presidential nomination, as he had not made many enemies over the course of his political career, though Roscoe Conkling himself supported the former congressman from New York, [[Stewart L. Woodford]].  When the time came for the convention to nominate a vice presidential candidate, congressman [[Luke P. Poland]] of Vermont nominated Wheeler, who immediately surged to the lead over Woodford and several other candidates.  By the time the roll call reached New York, the result was apparent, and Woodford withdrew, enabling New York to cast all its votes for Wheeler.<ref>{{cite book |last=Purcell |first=L. Edward |date=2010 |title=Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zq3-BuDVQfMC&pg=PA183 |location=York, PA |publisher=Maple Press |pages=183–184 |isbn=978-0-8160-7707-6}}</ref>  Wheeler won the nomination with 366 votes to the 89 for his nearest rival [[Frederick T. Frelinghuysen]], who later served on the [[Electoral Commission (United States)|Electoral Commission]] which decided the 1876 election in favor of Hayes and Wheeler.

Governor Hayes, when he heard of Wheeler's nomination, wrote to his wife Lucy: "I am ashamed to say: Who ''is Wheeler?"'' Hayes and Wheeler had not served in the House of Representatives at the same time, so Hayes was unfamiliar with his running mate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trefousse |first=Hans L. |date=2002 |title=The American Presidents Series: Rutherford B. Hayes; The 19th President |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mB84AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |page=68 |isbn=978-0-8050-6908-2}}</ref>

At the Republican National Convention, [[Frederick Douglass]] asked if the GOP would adhere to its pro-civil rights roots.<ref>Foner, Eric (1988). ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877'', p. 567. New York: Harper & Row.</ref> The advocacy of Hayes and Wheeler, among a faction of Northern Republicans, was to abandon Reconstruction efforts and instead make conciliatory appeals to Southern [[Whig Party (United States)|Whiggery]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211107154757/https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/wheeler-william.htm About the Vice President | William A. Wheeler, 19th Vice President (1877–1881)]. ''United States Senate''. Retrieved January 27, 2022.</ref>

==Vice presidency (1877–1881)==
Wheeler was inaugurated on March 4, 1877, and served until March 4, 1881.<ref>{{cite book |author=Joint Committee On Printing, United States Congress |date=1950 |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrXYvgrwkM0C&pg=PA1998 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=1998 |isbn=978-0-598-68615-2 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> During Wheeler's term, the Hayes administration pursued an alliance between Northern Republicans and Old Southern Whigs, effectively abandoning post-Civil War [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]]. Hayes intended for the former Whigs who largely made up the South's business and merchant classes to replace the Democratic planter class as the dominant force in Southern government and politics. Events did not play out as Hayes envisioned, which meant that the end of Reconstruction enabled Democrats, largely former supporters of the Confederacy, to reassert control over black residents, including passage of [[Jim Crow laws]] that lasted well into the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perman |first=Michael |date=2009 |title=Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CamlCytE1IgC&pg=PA150 |location=Chapel Hill, NC |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=150 |isbn=978-0-8078-9925-0 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Since Wheeler was a recent widower, his wife having died one year before he took office,<ref name="tally" /> he was a frequent guest at the White House's alcohol-free luncheons. As vice president, Wheeler presided over the Senate. According to Hayes, Wheeler "was one of the few Vice Presidents who were on cordial terms, intimate and friendly, with the President. Our family were heartily fond of him."<ref name="tally" />

Hayes had announced at the start of his administration that he would not run for a second term.  Wheeler did not run for the 1880 Republican presidential nomination, and retired at the end of his term.

===Lucy Hayes' fishing trip (1878)===
When First Lady [[Lucy Webb Hayes]] found out about Wheeler's status as a widower without children, she and her husband felt it was their duty to take the lonely Wheeler into their social circle. Wheeler was grateful for their kindness, and during the spring of 1878, he asked Lucy to accompany him on a fishing trip in the [[Adirondacks]]. Lucy accepted and joined Wheeler on May 31. On their first day, they caught a large [[trout]] that weighed about 13 pounds. Wheeler sent it to the president; Hayes telegraphed jokingly that he thought it was more like 13 ounces. Hayes was actually surprised at the size of the fish, and had it served at an informal dinner with cabinet members and senators. The next day, Wheeler and Lucy were traveling back to Malone when a group of children began waving red flags. Touched by the act, Wheeler stopped their carriage so he could introduce the first lady to the children. The trip lasted eleven days, and when Lucy and her daughter Fanny returned to Washington, she wrote to Wheeler to thank him for "a wild and joyous time".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hallas |first=Herbert |title=1878: The Vice President and the First Lady Go Fishing |date=18 December 2013 |url=https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2013/12/1878-vice-president-first-lady-go-fishing.html}}</ref>
[[File:Lucy Webb Hayes - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|Lucy Webb Hayes]]

[[File:Elks Lodge Malone NY 20170703.jpg|thumb|212x212px|Wheeler's home in Malone, NY]]

== Post-vice presidency (1881–1887) ==
[[1881 United States Senate election in New York|In January 1881]], Wheeler received 10 votes in the [[New York State Legislature]]'s Republican caucus to determine a nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat [[Francis Kernan]].<ref name="Almanac">{{cite magazine |date=1882 |editor1-last=McPherson |editor1-first=Edward |title=Election of United States Senators: New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7e4WAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA34 |magazine=The Tribune Almanac and Political Register |location=New York, NY |publisher=The Tribune Association |page=34 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The Republican nomination went to [[Thomas C. Platt]], who received 54 caucus votes.<ref name="Almanac" /> The Republicans controlled the legislature, and Platt defeated Kernan 104 votes to 50.<ref name="Almanac" />

Wheeler retired to Malone following the end of his vice presidential term on March 4, 1881.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Johnson |editor1-first=Rossiter |editor2-last=Brown |editor2-first=John Howard |date=1904 |title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans |volume=X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uG9mAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA25-PA11 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=The Biographical Society |page=Wheeler-Wheelock |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In May 1881, Platt and [[Roscoe Conkling]] resigned their U.S. Senate seats in a dispute with President [[James A. Garfield]] over control of patronage in New York, [[United States Senate special elections in New York, 1881|triggering two special elections]].<ref name="InterOcean">{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Porter |editor1-first=Robert Percival |editor2-last=MacMillan |editor2-first=Thomas C. |editor3-last=Jones |editor3-first=William P. |date=1887 |title=New York Senatorial Election of 1881 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4n5PAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA167 |magazine=The Inter Ocean Curiosity Shop |edition=First |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=The Inter Ocean Publishing Company |page=167 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In the [[United States Senate special elections in New York, 1881#Result.2C Class 1|legislative election for Platt's seat]], it took six weeks of balloting to elect a candidate.<ref name="InterOcean"/> Wheeler's name was in consideration, and he received as many as 23 votes before [[Warner Miller]] was elected with 76 votes on the 46th ballot.<ref name="InterOcean"/>

Wheeler was also a candidate for Conkling's seat.<ref name="InterOcean"/> [[United States Senate special elections in New York, 1881#Result.2C Class 3|The voting went on for several weeks]] and Wheeler received as many as 50 votes on some ballots before [[Elbridge G. Lapham]] won with 92 votes on the 56th ballot.<ref name="InterOcean"/>

{{anchor|Death}}
Wheeler suffered from several illnesses throughout his life and was in increasingly poor health during his later years.<ref name="MillerCenter"/> He died at his home at 10:10&nbsp;a.m. on Saturday, June 4, 1887.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=William A. Wheeler Dead |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/06/05/100916473.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/06/05/100916473.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 5, 1887}}</ref> The funeral was held at the Congregational church in Malone.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 8, 1887 |title=William A. Wheeler: Funeral Services Over the Remains of the Deceased Vice-President |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78557024/wheeler-funeral/ |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |location=Rochester, NY |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He was interred next to his wife in Malone's Morningside Cemetery on June 7, 1887.<ref>{{cite news |title=At Rest With His Kindred. Ex-vice-president Wheeler's Funeral At Malone, N.Y. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/06/08/100917245.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/06/08/100917245.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 8, 1887 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190504170306/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/william_wheeler.pdf Vice Presidents of the United States William A. Wheeler (1877–1881)]
* Quigley, David. ''Second Founding: New York City, Reconstruction, and the Making of American Democracy'' (New York: Farrar. Straus, and Giroux – Hill and Wang, 2004), {{ISBN|0-8090-8514-3}}.

==External links==
{{commons category|William Wheeler}}
{{NIE Poster|Wheeler, William Almon|William A. Wheeler}}
{{CongBio|W000341}}
*{{Find a Grave|2901}}

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{{US Vice Presidents}}
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{{US House Energy and Commerce chairs}}
{{United States presidential election, 1876}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, William A.}}
[[Category:William A. Wheeler| ]]
[[Category:1819 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:1876 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Members of the New York State Assembly]]
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[[Category:Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes]]
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