William Woods Holden

William Holden

William Woods Holden (born November 24, 1818 in Durham County , North Carolina , † March 1, 1892 in Raleigh , North Carolina) was an American politician and both 38th and 40th Governor of North Carolina.

Early years

William Holden attended local schools in his home country and then studied law. In 1841 he was admitted to the bar. At the same time he also made a career as a journalist. He started out as a reporter and eventually owned and edited the North Carolina Standard newspaper.

Political rise

In the course of his political life, Holden changed his party affiliation several times. Originally a member of the Whigs , he joined the Democratic Party in 1843 . After the Civil War, he finally joined the Republicans . He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1846 and remained there until 1847. A gifted public speaker, he had helped the Democratic Party win several electoral victories in North Carolina in the years before the Civil War . He himself applied for the nomination for the office of governor in 1858, but lost to John Willis Ellis . He was a strong advocate of slavery and southern rights in the 1840s and 1850s . However, he changed his mind around the year 1860. On the issue of secession, he spoke out against the secession of North Carolina and angered his party friends. With this attitude he was sent by his supporters to Congress, which should decide on the question of secession. When he heard about President Abraham Lincoln's request for military support from the Union at Congress , he changed his mind again and now voted for secession. In the war years that followed, Holden developed strong opposition to the war policy of the Confederation. He campaigned for the end of the civil war. With this program he ran for governor in 1864, but was defeated by Zebulon Vance .

North Carolina Governor

After the war ended, Governor Vance was arrested and deposed by President Andrew Johnson . The president has now named Holden as the new governor of North Carolina. He should hold this office until a new election in the autumn of the same year. But he lost these elections to Jonathan Worth , who was then governor of North Carolina until 1868. In the few months between May and December 1865, Holden had done much to stabilize his country after the war. After being voted out of office, President Johnson wanted to make him ambassador to El Salvador, which the Senate later rejected. In the meantime, Holden built the Republican Party in North Carolina and was nominated by her as the top candidate for the gubernatorial election of 1868 and was also elected to this office in the subsequent elections. His term in office was to be unfortunate. On the positive side, there are some measures against the activities of the Ku Klux Klan . Otherwise, the governor soon found himself in the fire of public criticism. He and his government were accused of corruption and waste. After the Democratic Party had regained a majority in North Carolina, this led to impeachment proceedings and ultimately to the actual impeachment of the Republican governor. He was the first North Carolina governor to lose his office that way.

Another résumé

After serving as governor, he moved to Washington DC and worked for a newspaper. Soon after, President Ulysses S. Grant made him head of the Federal Post Office in Raleigh . He held this office from 1873 to 1881. Holden died in March 1892. He was married twice and had three children in total. His grandson Charles H. Cowles (1875–1957) represented North Carolina in Congress between 1909 and 1911 .

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, Conn. 1978, 4 volumes

Web links

• William Holden in the National Governors Association (English)
• William Woods Holden in the database of Find a Grave (English)