Wheeler, William A. (William Almon), 1819-1887

<p>William Almon Wheeler was born on June 30, 1819, in Malone, New York, near the Canadian border. His father died when he was a young boy, leaving little money for his family, and William grew up relatively poor. He attended the University of Vermont for two years but had to drop out because of lack of funds. He then returned to New York and started teaching school, while studying law. In 1845, he was admitted to the bar, and that same year, he married Mary King. They did not have any children.</p>

<p>He began his political career with local positions such as town clerk and school commissioner. A member of the Whig Party, he became district attorney for Franklin County in 1846, a position he held for three years. In the 1850s, he was elected to the New York legislature, serving in both the house and senate. In the mid-1850s, he joined the Republican Party. He moved to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1861 and served just one term before deciding to return to New York. Wheeler often suffered from ill health and felt that working in the federal government was not good for his health.</p>

<p>In 1869, however, he chose to return to Washington, D.C., again as a representative from New York. He served in the House until he resigned to become vice president in 1877. Although Wheeler was considered an honest and conscientious politician, he did not receive national attention until 1874, when he was a member of the House Committee on Southern Affairs. The committee went to Louisiana to help resolve a disputed election for governor. The “Wheeler Compromise” reached an agreement between Democrats and Republicans to govern the state and prevent further violence in Louisiana.</p>

<p>As the presidential election of 1876 neared, the Republican Party needed candidates with clean reputations because the scandals of the Ulysses S. Grant administration had disenchanted the public. The party turned to Wheeler as vice president because of his honesty and impeccable character. During the disputed presidential election, he and Hayes laid low and did not campaign. Once in office, Wheeler had little influence in the administration, as was usual for the time, but he had unusually close personal relationships with President Hayes and his family.</p>

<p>Leaving office in 1881, Wheeler returned to New York and private life. He died on June 4, 1887.</p>

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WHEELER, WILLIAM ALMON, a Representative from New York and a Vice President of the United States; born in Malone, Franklin County, N.Y., June 30, 1819; completed preparatory studies; attended the Franklin Academy at Malone and the University of Vermont at Burlington; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1845 and practiced in Malone, N.Y.; district attorney for Franklin County, N.Y., 1846-1849; member, State assembly 1850-1851; member, State senate 1858-1860; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1863); chair, Committee on Expenditures in the War Department (Thirty-seventh Congress); delegate to the State constitutional conventions in 1867 and 1868; elected to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1877); chair, Committee on Commerce (Forty-third Congress); was not a candidate for reelection to the Forty-fifth Congress, having been nominated in 1876 as the Republican candidate for Vice President; elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Rutherford Hayes in 1876; inaugurated in March 1877 and served until March 1881; retired from public life and active business pursuits because of ill health; died in Malone, N.Y., June 4, 1887; interment in Morningside Cemetery.

<p>William Almon Wheeler (June 30, 1819 – June 4, 1887) was an American politician and attorney. He served as a United States representative from New York from 1861 to 1863 and 1869 to 1877, and the 19th vice president of the United States from 1877 to 1881.</p>

<p>Born in Malone, New York, Wheeler pursued a legal career after attending the University of Vermont. After serving in various local positions, he won election to the New York State Legislature. He served in Congress from 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877. He was widely respected for his integrity, and refused his salary increase after Congress passed an 1873 pay raise that he opposed.</p>

<p>After the 1876 Republican National Convention settled on Rutherford B. Hayes as the party's presidential nominee after seven ballots, the delegates nominated Wheeler for vice president. Nominated by Congressman Luke P. Poland, Wheeler surged into an early lead over Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Marshall Jewell, and Stewart L. Woodford to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Wheeler was nominated because he was popular among his colleagues, having worked to avoid making enemies in Congress. In addition, as a resident of the populous Eastern state of New York, he provided geographical balance to the ticket, since Hayes was from the populous Midwest state of Ohio. The Republican ticket prevailed in the contentious 1876 presidential election, though they lost the popular vote. Though they had not known each other before the convention, Wheeler and Hayes got along amicably while in office. They chose not to seek second terms, and Wheeler returned to Malone, New York after the end of his term. He died in 1887, and was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.</p>