Friday, March 29, AD 2024 6:33am

Hannibal Hamlin: Forgotten Man of the Lincoln Administration

Thomas E. Marshall, Vice-President under Wilson, summed up the historical fate of most Vice-Presidents in this joke he used to tell:  There were two brothers.  One was lost at sea and one became Vice-President.  Neither were heard from again.  That was certainly the case with Hannibal Hamlin, Lincoln’s first Vice-President.  In an administration where almost everything has been examined endlessly by tens of thousands of historians with magnifying glasses, Hamlin is a complete void.  At the time Hamlin knew that he simply did not count in the Administration, although Lincoln was cordial on the rare occasions they met.  I am the fifth wheel of a coach is how Hamlin described his non-role in shaping the affairs of the nation during his term as Vice-President.

The most prominent politician from Maine, both before and after his term as Vice-President, perhaps Hamlin regretted his four years in political oblivion as Lincoln’s Veep.

Hamlin began his political career in 1836 when he won election to Maine’s house of representatives as a Democrat.  Serving in the Federal House of Representatives in 1843-47.  Appointed to serve out a term in the US Senate in 1848, Hamlin elected to a full term in his own right in 1851.  In 1856 he became a national celebrity when he broke with the Democrat party over slavery, and joined the Republicans.  Elected as a Republican as Governor of Maine in 1856 and  serving briefly, he resigned to take up a seat next year as a Republican, being one of the few members of the Senate to serve in that body as both a Democrat and a Republican.

He was placed on the Presidential ticket for regional balance and for the fame he had won as a former Democrat who left the party over slavery, a natural vote getter among anti-slavery Democrats.  Hamlin and Lincoln did not meet for the first time until after the election.  During the campaign Democrats spread the rumor that Hamlin was a mulatto.  Hamlin did have a swarthy complexion, but there was no truth in the allegation.  The same charge was made against Lincoln, racism being a weapon wielded freely by Democrats in both 1861 and 1864.

Hamlin as Veep advocated Emancipation and the use of black troops.  Less presciently, he also supported placing Fighting Joe Hooker in command of the Army of the Potomac.  Hamlin was left off the ticket in 1864 in order to broaden the ticket.  Hamlin was firmly associated now with the radical wing of the Republican Party, and Lincoln believed that a War Democrat would be a better choice in what was likely to be a close contest.  Andrew Johnson thus ultimately became President and Hamlin missed his opportunity to be something other than an historical footnote.

After the War Hamlin served two more terms in the Senate and finished up his career as ambassador to Spain.  His life demonstrates that someone can have quite a successful political career and end up all but completely forgotten after death,  even when being a participant in a vitally important period of the history of his nation.  Lincoln received many death threats during his administration and he was face to face with John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater on November 9, 1863.  If fate had chosen otherwise Hamlin could easily have been thrust into the Presidency.  That would make a great alternate history tale.    Hmm, April first is coming up this year, a traditional time at the blog for alternate history.  Hamlin, prepare yourself!

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Harry Tucci
Harry Tucci
Friday, March 28, AD 2014 4:45pm

I spent a semster in Hamlin Hall a dorm at the University of Maine so I’ve always had an affinity for Hannibal Hamlin.

James
James
Saturday, March 29, AD 2014 11:33am

“The same charge was made against Lincoln, racism being a weapon wielded freely by Democrats in both 1861 and 1864.” Things have not changed much from the Democrat side of the fence here in 2014.

trackback
Sunday, March 30, AD 2014 11:12pm

[…] to HHS Mandate – Adelaide Mena The Sports Obsession of a Lonely City – Thomas Cloud Hannibal Hamlin: Forgotten Man of the Lincoln Administration – D.M.R. Anchors Aweigh – Don. R. McClarey JD, The American Catholic Springtime in […]

Pinky
Pinky
Monday, March 31, AD 2014 9:28am

Not a footnote! I’ve always admired him. The political world often seems to be filled with people trying for the brass ring of the presidency. Hamlin was that other type, a public servant.

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