George H. Pendleton | |
|---|---|
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| United States Minister to Germany | |
| In office June 21, 1885 – April 25, 1889 | |
| President | Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison |
| Preceded by | John A. Kasson |
| Succeeded by | William Phelps |
| Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus | |
| In office March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1885 | |
| Preceded by | William A. Wallace |
| Succeeded by | James B. Beck |
| United States Senator fromOhio | |
| In office March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1885 | |
| Preceded by | Stanley Matthews |
| Succeeded by | Henry B. Payne |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1865 | |
| Preceded by | Timothy C. Day |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Eggleston |
| Member of theOhio Senate from the 1st district | |
| In office January 2, 1854 – January 6, 1856 Served with John Schiff, William Converse | |
| Preceded by | Edwin Armstrong Adam Riddle John Vattier |
| Succeeded by | Stanley Matthews George Holmes William Converse |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Hunt Pendleton (1825-07-19)July 19, 1825 Cincinnati,Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 24, 1889(1889-11-24) (aged 64) Brussels, Belgium |
| Resting place | Spring Grove Cemetery Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Alice Key |
| Parent(s) | Jane Frances Hunt Pendleton Nathanael Greene Pendleton |
| Relatives | Francis Scott Key (father-in-law) |
| Education | University of Cincinnati Heidelberg University |
| Signature |  |
George Hunt Pendleton (July 19, 1825 – November 24, 1889)[1] was an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. He representedOhio in both houses ofCongress and was theDemocratic nominee forVice President of the United States in1864.
After studying at theUniversity of Cincinnati andHeidelberg University in Europe, Pendleton practiced law in his hometown ofCincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of CongressmanNathanael G. Pendleton and the son-in-law of poetFrancis Scott Key. After serving in theOhio Senate, Pendleton was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives. During theCivil War, he emerged as a leader of theCopperheads, a group of Democrats who favored peace with theConfederacy.[2] After the war, he opposed theThirteenth Amendment and theCivil Rights Act of 1866.
The1864 Democratic National Convention nominated a ticket ofGeorge B. McClellan, who favored continuing the war, and Pendleton, who opposed it. The ticket lost to theNational Union ticket ofAbraham Lincoln andAndrew Johnson, and Pendleton's term as a Congressman expired shortly thereafter. Pendleton was a strong contender for the presidential nomination at the1868 Democratic National Convention, but was defeated byNew York GovernorHoratio Seymour. After Pendleton lost the 1869 Ohio gubernatorial election, he temporarily left politics.
He served as the president of the Kentucky Central Railroad before returning to Congress. Pendleton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1879 and served a single term, becoming Chairman of theSenate Democratic Conference. After the assassination of PresidentJames A. Garfield, he wrote and helped pass thePendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. The act required that many civil service be based on merit rather than political connections. Passage of the act lost him support in Ohio and he was not nominated for a second Senate term. PresidentGrover Cleveland appointed him ambassador to theGerman Empire. He served in that position until 1889, dying later that year.
Pendleton was born in Cincinnati on July 19, 1825. He was the son of Jane Frances (née Hunt) Pendleton (1802–1839) andU.S. RepresentativeNathanael Greene Pendleton (1793–1861).[3]
He attended the local schools andCincinnati College and theUniversity of Heidelberg in Germany. Pendleton studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1847, and commenced practice in Cincinnati.[4]
Pendleton was elected as a member of theOhio Senate, serving from 1854 to 1856. His father had been a member of the Ohio Senate from 1825 until 1827.[3] In 1854, he ran unsuccessfully for theThirty-fourth United States Congress. Two years later, he was elected as aDemocrat to theThirty-fifth Congress. He was reelected to the three following Congresses (March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1865). During his time in the House, he was one of the managers appointed in 1862 to conduct the impeachment proceedings againstWest H. Humphreys, a US judge for several districts of Tennessee.
In the 1850s, Pendleton actively opposed measures to prohibit slavery in theWestern United States.[2] A leading defender of slavery,[5] he was a leader of his party's "peace" faction during the Civil War, with close ties to theCopperheads. He voted against theThirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude.[6]
Pendleton, a nationally prominentExtreme Peace Democrat, was nominated as the vice-presidential running mate ofGeorge McClellan, aWar Democrat, in the1864 presidential election. McClellan, age 37 at the time of the convention, and Pendleton, age 39, are the youngest major-party presidential ticket ever nominated in the United States. TheirNational Union opponents were President Lincoln andAndrew Johnson. McClellan and Pendleton lost, receiving about 45% of the popular vote and less than 10% of the electoral vote.
Since Pendleton was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, he was not a candidate for reelection to theThirty-ninth Congress.George E. Pugh, the Democrat nominated to run for Pendleton's seat, lost to RepublicanBenjamin Eggleston.
Out of office for the first time in a decade, Pendleton ran for his old House seat in 1866 but lost. In1868, he sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He led for the first 15 ballots but his support disappeared and he lost toHoratio Seymour, primarily for his support of the "Ohio idea."[2] In 1869, he was the Democratic nominee forGovernor of Ohio and lost toRutherford B. Hayes.[4]
Pendleton stepped away from politics, and in 1869, he became president of the Kentucky Central Railroad.[7]
In 1879, Pendleton was elected to theUnited States Senate. During his only term, from 1881 to 1885, he served concurrently as theChairman of the Democratic Conference. Following the 1881 assassination ofJames A. Garfield, he passed his most notable legislation, thePendleton Act of 1883, requiring civil service exams for government positions. The Act helped put an end to the system ofpatronage in widespread use at the time, but it cost Pendleton politically, as many members of his party preferred the spoils system. He was thus not renominated to the Senate.[4]
PresidentGrover Cleveland appointed PendletonEnvoy Extraordinary andMinister Plenipotentiary to Germany the year he left office. He served until April 1889. Five months later, during his return trip to the United States, he died inBrussels,Belgium.[4]
Pendleton had a veryJacksonian commitment to the Democratic Party as the best and perhaps only mechanism through which ordinary Americans could shape government policies. Mach (2007) argues that Pendleton's chief contribution was to demonstrate theWhig Party's willingness to use its power in government to achieve Jacksonian ideals.
While his Jacksonian commitment tostates' rights and limited government made him a dissenter during the Civil War, what Mach calls Pendleton's Jacksonian "ardor to expand opportunities for ordinary Americans" was the basis for his leadership in civil service reform and his controversialplan to usegreenbacks to repay the federal debt. What appeared to be a substantive ideological shift, Mach argues, represented Pendleton's pragmatic willingness to use new means to achieve old ends.
In 1846, Pendleton married Mary Alicia Key, the daughter ofFrancis Scott Key, the lawyer, author, and amateur poet best known for writing the poem that later became the lyrics of the United States'national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." George and Alicia were the parents of:
Pendleton became a member of the New YorkSociety of the Cincinnati in 1886 by right of his descent from Captain Nathaniel Pendleton of the Continental Army.
At the end of his life, Pendleton suffered astroke.[11] He died inBrussels,Belgium, on November 24, 1889.[1] He is interred inSpring Grove Cemetery,Cincinnati, Ohio.
The city ofPendleton, Oregon, is named after him.[12]
TheGeorge H. Pendleton House in Cincinnati is aNational Historical Landmark and was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1966.[13]
InSteven Spielberg's 2012 filmLincoln, Pendleton is played byPeter McRobbie and portrayed as one of the most notable opponents of theThirteenth Amendment and theCivil Rights Act of 1866.
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