William F. Sheehan

William F. Sheehan (right) with George W. Wickersham (1914)

William Francis Sheehan (born November 6, 1859 in Buffalo , New York , † March 14, 1917 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Democratic Party ). During his political career he was known as Blue-Eyed Billy .

Career

William Francis Sheehan began his political career as a clerk in the law firm of his brother John Sheehan, who was Buffalo City Controller until Grover Cleveland had him removed from his mayor's ballot in 1881. William was a member of the New York State Assembly between 1885 and 1891 . During this time he secured the appointment of his brother John as clerk on the New York Aqueduct Board and his partner Charles F. Tabor as First Deputy of the New York State Attorney General . Furthermore, William held the post of speaker in the New York State Assembly in 1891 .

Sheehan was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1891 . He held this post between 1892 and 1894. He then founded a successful law firm in New York City with Alton B. Parker . Sheehan was a member of the New York Democratic State Committee between 1889 and 1893 . He also represented New York on the Democratic National Committee in 1891 and 1896 . He took part in 1892 and 1912 as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions .

Sheehan ran for the US Senate in 1911 , where he was to succeed Chauncey Depew as US Senator from New York. It was nominated by the Democratic Electoral Committee, but successfully blocked by a group of "insurgents" led by Senator Franklin D. Roosevelt .

Sheehan then took part in 1915 as a delegate to the New York Constituent Assembly . He died in New York City in 1917 of complications from kidney disease. His body was transferred to Buffalo, where he was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery .

literature

• Struggle for State patronage, in NYT on September 13, 1887
• Senatorial election, New York Times, March 20, 1911

Web links

• William F. Sheehan at The Political Graveyard