Jesse Bright | |
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| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| In office June 12, 1860 – June 26, 1860 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Fitzpatrick |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Fitzpatrick |
| In office June 11, 1856 – January 6, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | Charles E. Stuart |
| Succeeded by | James M. Mason |
| In office December 5, 1854 – June 9, 1856 | |
| Preceded by | Lewis Cass |
| Succeeded by | Charles E. Stuart |
| United States Senator fromIndiana | |
| In office March 4, 1845 – February 5, 1862 | |
| Preceded by | Albert Smith White |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Wright |
| Lieutenant Governor of Indiana | |
| In office December 6, 1843 – March 4, 1845 | |
| Governor | James Whitcomb |
| Preceded by | Samuel Hall |
| Succeeded by | Paris C. Dunning |
| Member of theIndiana Senate | |
| In office 1841–1843 | |
| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives fromCarroll andTrimble Counties | |
| In office August 5, 1867 – August 7, 1871 | |
| Preceded by | Haydon S. Wright (Carroll) Richard Bell (Trimble) |
| Succeeded by | J. R. Sanders |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jesse David Bright (1812-12-18)December 18, 1812 Norwich, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 1875(1875-05-20) (aged 62) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Jesse David Bright (December 18, 1812 – May 20, 1875) was theninth Lieutenant Governor of Indiana andU.S. Senator fromIndiana who served asPresident pro tempore of the Senate on three occasions.[1] He was the only senator from a Northern state to beexpelled for being aConfederate sympathizer, and also the last Senator to be expelled onConfederate rebellion. As a leadingCopperhead he opposed theCivil War.[2] He was frequently in competition with GovernorJoseph A. Wright, the leader of the state's Republican Party.
Bright owned 21 slaves inKentucky.[3]
Jesse Bright was born into a German family inNorwich, New York, which moved toMadison, Indiana, in 1820.[4] Bright attended public schools as a child. He studied law and wasadmitted to the bar in 1831, commencing practice in Madison.[4] He was elected a judge of theprobate court ofJefferson County, Indiana, in 1834, was aUnited States Marshal for the district ofIndiana from 1840 to 1841 and served in theIndiana Senate from 1841 to 1843.[4] In 1842, he was electedLieutenant Governor of Indiana and served as such from 1843 to 1845.[5]
Bright was elected as aDemocrat to theUnited States Senate in 1844, and was reelected in 1850 and 1856, serving from 1845 to 1862.[4] He was chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills from 1845 to 1847, of theCommittee on Public Buildings from 1845 to 1847, of theCommittee on Revolutionary Claims from 1847 to 1849, of the Committee on Roads and Canals from 1849 to 1855 and of theCommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds from 1857 to 1861. He was alsoPresident pro tempore of the Senate from 1854 to 1856, 1856 to 1857, and in 1860. As such, he wasfirst in the presidential line of succession in the first two terms due to the death ofVice PresidentWilliam R. King in April 1853.
In the Senate, Bright was not known as a great orator but was very able in committee work. One enemy of his wasIllinois SenatorStephen A. Douglas after he voted against keeping Bright in the Senate. He was, however, a very close friend and confidant ofWilliam Hayden English, aU.S. Representative fromIndiana. In 1857,PresidentJames Buchanan offered him the post ofSecretary of State, but he declined.[6]
In the beginning of 1862, the Senate of the37th Congress, which was composed of twenty-nineRepublicans and tenDemocrats, voted toexpel him for acknowledgingJefferson Davis asPresident of the Confederate States and for facilitating the sale of arms to theConfederacy.[4] The issue was brought up whenMinnesota SenatorMorton S. Wilkinson introduced the Senate to a letter dated March 1, 1861, written to Davis and signed by Bright, involvingfirearm trades. The letter was found on a captured gun trader crossing the Confederate border during theFirst Battle of Bull Run.[7][8]
He was the fourteenth senator expelled from Congress during theCivil War and was (as of 2023) the last senator ever to be expelled. Soon after his expulsion from the Senate,Union authorities confiscated his property inPort Fulton, Indiana, which becameJefferson General Hospital, the third-largest hospital during the Civil War. He was an unsuccessful candidate in filling the vacancy caused by his own expulsion in 1863. Bright's longtime intra-party rival,Envoy to Prussia andWar DemocratJoseph A. Wright, succeeded him in the Senate.
After losing his home inIndiana, Bright moved toCovington, Kentucky.[4] He was a member of theKentucky House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871, was apresidential elector on theDemocratic ticket fromKentucky in the1868 presidential election, and was president of the Raymond City Coal Company from 1871 to 1875. He moved toBaltimore, Maryland, in 1874 and died there on May 20, 1875.[4] He was interred inGreen Mount Cemetery inBaltimore.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Indiana 1843–1845 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate 1854–1856 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate 1856–1857 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate 1860 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Indiana 1845–1862 Served alongside:Edward A. Hannegan,James Whitcomb,Charles W. Cathcart,John Pettit,Graham N. Fitch,Henry S. Lane | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Public Buildings Committee 1846–1847 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Chair of the Senate Public Buildings Committee | Chair of theJoint Public Buildings Committee 1857–1861 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Public Buildings (1838–1857) |  | |
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| Public Buildings and Grounds (1857–1947) | ||
| Public Works (1947–1977) | ||
| Environment and Public Works (1977–present) | ||
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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