Fairbanks, Charles W. (Charles Warren), 1852-1918

<p>Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice presidential nominee in the 1916 presidential election.</p>

<p>Born in Unionville Center, Ohio, Fairbanks moved to Indianapolis after graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University. He became an attorney and railroad financier, working under railroad magnate Jay Gould. Fairbanks delivered the keynote address at the 1896 Republican National Convention and won election to the Senate the following year. In the Senate, he became an advisor to President William McKinley and served on a commission that helped settle the Alaska boundary dispute.</p>

<p>The 1904 Republican National Convention selected Fairbanks as the running mate for President Theodore Roosevelt. As vice president, Fairbanks worked against Roosevelt's progressive policies. Fairbanks unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination at the 1908 Republican National Convention and backed William Howard Taft in 1912 against Roosevelt. Fairbanks sought the presidential nomination at the 1916 Republican National Convention, but was instead selected as the vice presidential nominee, serving on a ticket with Charles Evans Hughes. In the 1916 election, the Republican ticket lost to the Democratic ticket of President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.</p>

<p>Charles Warren Fairbanks was born on May 11, 1852, in Union County, Ohio. His parents were Methodists, and his mother was active in the temperance movement. They were also devoted abolitionists and welcomed runaway slaves to stay at their farm. As a child, Fairbanks worked in the fields with his father and attended local schools. Although his family was of modest means, there was enough money to send Fairbanks to college, and he left to attend Ohio Wesleyan University at the age of fifteen.</p>

<p>After he graduated in 1872, he worked as a reporter for the Western Associated Press, which his uncle managed. At night, he attended Cleveland Law School and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1874. That year he married Cornelia Cole, whom he had met in college. Shortly after their wedding, they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Fairbanks opened his law practice.</p>

<p>He practiced law for twenty-three years in Indianapolis and built a considerable fortune doing so. He specialized in legal matters concerning railroads. While he did not hold elected office during this time, he acquired considerable power in the state Republican Party, largely because of his wealth. Additionally, he held a majority stake in The Indianapolis News, which allowed him to promote Republican causes. Fairbanks sought election to the U.S. Senate in 1893 but was unsuccessful. During the 1896 elections, he developed a friendship with William McKinley and delivered the keynote address at the 1896 Republican Convention. The Indiana legislature elected Fairbanks to the U.S. Senate in 1897. Senator Fairbanks served on the Foreign Relations Committee and supported President McKinley during the Spanish-American War. He also served on a commission on Alaskan affairs, and the town of Fairbanks, Alaska, was named for him. He was well regarded by his colleagues and generally followed the party line. He was mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee in 1900 but the effort failed despite the support of powerful allies, most notably Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio.</p>

<p>When President McKinley was assassinated in September 1901, Fairbanks lost a close ally in the White House. The ascension of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency coincided with the increasing power of more progressive elements of the Republican Party over the pro-business conservatism of McKinley, Hanna, and Fairbanks. Nonetheless, Roosevelt needed to placate the conservative wing of his party and did so by unenthusiastically selecting Fairbanks as his running mate for the 1904 election. Together the pair defeated the relatively weak Democratic ticket of Alton Parker and Henry Davis.</p>

<p>As vice president, Fairbanks had a fairly limited role even though Roosevelt had previously argued in favor of a more substantial role for the vice president. President Roosevelt did not invite his vice president to cabinet meetings and rarely consulted him. This was partially the result of ideological differences between Fairbanks and Roosevelt as well as their distant personal relationship. Fairbanks was dedicated to his role as presiding officer of the Senate and worked with congressional leaders to undermine unwanted legislation.</p>

<p>Fairbanks harbored presidential ambitions throughout his political career and made a concerted attempt to secure the nomination in 1908. However, President Roosevelt designated Secretary of War and close friend William Taft as his successor and used his power and popularity to secure Taft's nomination. When Fairbanks failed in this effort, he retired to Indiana and was relatively inactive in party politics for a number of years. In 1916, he was again nominated as a vice presidential candidate to run with Charles Evans Hughes, who narrowly lost to Woodrow Wilson. Charles Fairbanks died on June 4, 1918.</p>

FAIRBANKS, CHARLES WARREN, a Senator from Indiana and a Vice President of the United States; born near Unionville Center, Union County, Ohio, May 11, 1852; attended the common schools and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, in 1872; agent of the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, Pa., and in Cleveland, Ohio; studied law; admitted to the Ohio bar in 1874; moved to Indianapolis, Ind., the same year and commenced practice; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1893; appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission which met in Quebec in 1898 for the adjustment of Canadian questions; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1896; reelected in 1902 and served from March 4, 1897, until his resignation March 3, 1905, having been elected Vice President of the United States; chairman, Committee on Immigration (Fifty-fifth Congress), Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Fifty-sixth through Fifty-eighth Congresses); elected Vice President of the United States in 1904 on the Republican ticket with Theodore Roosevelt and served from March 4, 1905, to March 3, 1909; unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Charles E. Hughes for President in 1916; resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis, Ind., where he died June 4, 1918; interment in Crown Hill Cemetery.