Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin (born August 27, 1809 in Paris , Massachusetts , †  July 4, 1891 in Bangor , Maine ) was an American politician . He served as Vice President of the United States for President Abraham Lincoln's first term from 1861 to 1865.

Early years and political advancement

Born in present-day Maine, Hannibal Hamlin attended local schools in his homeland and the Hebron Academy . After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1833. He then began to work in his new profession in Hampden .

Between 1836 and 1840 he was a member of the Maine House of Representatives . From 1837 he was Jonathan Cilley's successor as President ( Speaker ). From 1843 to 1847 he was a member of the US House of Representatives . In 1847 he briefly returned to the Maine Parliament before he was elected to the US Senate in 1848 . He stayed there until 1857.

Originally a Democrat , who supported Franklin Pierce's candidacy in 1853 , he went over to the Republicans after it was founded. On September 8, 1856 Hamlin was a candidate of his new party against incumbent Samuel Wells for governor elected by Maine. He took office on January 8, 1857 and gave it up on February 25 because he had been re-elected to the US Senate. There he remained until 1861. In November 1860 he was elected as running mate of Abraham Lincoln to the vice-president; he took up this office on March 4, 1861.

Vice President of the USA

The American Civil War fell during his time as Vice President . But he did not have any significant influence on the politics of the northern states and did not even belong to the inner circle of power around President Lincoln. As the northern states were about to win, Lincoln decided to replace him in the 1864 presidential election with Andrew Johnson , who seemed more suitable for national reconciliation, being both a southerner and a unionist. Hamlin resigned from office in early March 1865, and Andrew Johnson took office after Lincoln's murder in mid-April.

Another résumé

Between 1865 and 1866 Hamlin was head of customs in the port of Boston , then from 1869 to 1881 he was again a member of the US Senate. From 1877 to 1879 he was chairman of the influential Senate Committee on Foreign Relations . Between 1881 and 1882 he was the successor to Lucius Fairchild US envoy to Spain . Then he withdrew from politics. Hannibal Hamlin died on July 4, 1891 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor. He was married twice and had a total of six children. His son Hannibal Emery Hamlin was later Maine Attorney General .

literature

• Jules Witcover: The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D. C. 2014, ISBN 978-1-5883-4471-7 , pp. 137-149 (= 15. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine ).

Web links

Commons : Hannibal Hamlin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Hannibal Hamlin in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Hannibal Hamlin in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Hannibal Hamlin in the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of Maine (English)
• Hannibal Hamlin at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia (English)