Schuyler Colfax | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Colfax in 1869 | |
| 17thVice President of the United States | |
| In office March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 | |
| President | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Preceded by | Andrew Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Henry Wilson |
| 25thSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office December 7, 1863 – March 3, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Galusha A. Grow |
| Succeeded by | Theodore M. Pomeroy |
| Leader of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office December 7, 1863 – March 3, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Galusha A. Grow |
| Succeeded by | Theodore M. Pomeroy |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's9th district | |
| In office March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Norman Eddy |
| Succeeded by | John P. C. Shanks |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Schuyler Colfax Jr. (1823-03-23)March 23, 1823 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 13, 1885(1885-01-13) (aged 61) Mankato, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Resting place | South Bend City Cemetery,South Bend, Indiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Whig (before 1854) Republican (after 1854) |
| Other political affiliations | Indiana People's Party (1854) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Schuyler Colfax III |
| Signature |  |
Schuyler Colfax Jr. (/ˈskaɪlərˈkoʊlfæks/SKY-lərKOHL-fax; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17thvice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25thspeaker of the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. Originally aWhig, then part of the short-livedPeople's Party of Indiana, and later aRepublican, he was theU.S. representative forIndiana's 9th congressional district from 1855 to 1869.
Born inNew York City, Colfax was known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. During his first term as speaker, he led the effort to pass theThirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolishedslavery. When it came before the House for a final vote in January 1865, he emphasized his support by casting a vote in favor—byconvention the speaker votes only to break a tie. Chosen asUlysses S. Grant'srunning mate in the1868 election, the pair won easily overDemocratic Party nomineesHoratio Seymour andFrancis Preston Blair Jr. As was typical during the 19th century, Colfax had little involvement in theGrant administration. In addition to his duties as president of the U.S. Senate, he continued to lecture and write for the press while in office. Believing Grant would only serve one term, in 1870, Colfax attempted unsuccessfully to garner support for the1872 Republican presidential nomination by telling friends and supporters he would not seek a second vice presidential term. When Grant announced that he would run again, Colfax reversed himself and attempted to win the vice-presidential nomination, but it was won byHenry Wilson.
An 1872–1873congressional investigation into theCrédit Mobilier scandal identified Colfax as one of severalfederal government officials who, in 1868, had accepted payments of cash and discounted stock from theUnion Pacific Railroad in exchange for favorable action during the construction of thetranscontinental railroad. Though he vociferously defended himself against charges, his reputation suffered. Colfax left the vice presidency at the end of his term in March 1873, and never again ran for office. Afterward, he worked as a business executive and became a popular lecturer and speechmaker.[1]
Colfax suffered a heart attack and died at a railroad station inMankato, Minnesota, on January 13, 1885, whileen route to a speaking engagement in Iowa.[2] He is one of only two persons to have served as both speaker of the House and vice president, the other beingJohn Nance Garner.[3]
Schuyler Colfax Jr. was born inNew York City on March 23, 1823, the son of Schuyler Colfax Sr. (1792–1822),[4] a bank teller, and Hannah Stryker (1805–1872), both of English and Dutch ancestry, who had married on April 25, 1820.[5] His grandfather,William Colfax, served inGeorge Washington'sLife Guard during theAmerican Revolution and married Hester Schuyler, the second great-granddaughter ofPhilip Pieterse Schuyler.[5][6]: 146–148 and a cousin ofGeneralPhilip Schuyler.[7] William Colfax became a general in theNew Jersey Militia after the Revolution and commanded a brigade during theWar of 1812.[6]: 151
Schuyler Colfax Sr. contracted tuberculosis and died on October 30, 1822, five months before Colfax was born.[8] His sister Mary died in July 1823, four months after he was born.[5] After the senior Colfax's death, Colfax's mother and grandmother ran a boarding house as their primary means of economic support.[8] Colfax attended school in New York City until he was 10, when family financial difficulties caused him to end his formal education and take a job as a clerk in the store of George W. Matthews.[5][9]
Colfax's mother married George Matthews in 1834, and the family moved toNew Carlisle, Indiana, where Matthews ran a store that also served as the village post office.[8][10] There, Colfax became an avid reader of newspapers and books.[2] The family moved again, in 1841, to nearbySouth Bend, Indiana, after Matthews becameSt. Joseph CountyAuditor.[5] He appointed Colfax as his deputy, a post that Colfax held throughout the eight years Matthews was in office.[5]
In 1842, Colfax became the editor of the pro-WhigSouth Bend Free Press, owned byJohn D. Defrees.[11] When Defrees moved toIndianapolis the following year and purchased theIndiana Journal, he hired Colfax to cover theIndiana Senate for theJournal.[5][12] In addition to covering the state senate, Colfax contributed articles on Indiana politics to theNew York Tribune, leading to a friendship with its editor,Horace Greeley.[13]
In 1845, Colfax purchased theSouth Bend Free Press and changed its name to theSt. Joseph Valley Register.[11] He owned theRegister for nine years, at first in support of the Whigs, then shifting to the newly established Republican Party.[14]
While covering theIndiana Senate as a journalist, Colfax also served as the senate's assistant enrolling clerk from 1842 to 1844.[15] In 1843, several South Bend residents formed a debating society in which members researched and discussed current events and other topics of interest, and Colfax became a prominent member.[16] The organization's success led it to create amoot state legislature, in which members introduced, debated, and voted on bills in accordance with the rules of theIndiana General Assembly.[12] As with the debating society, Colfax was a prominent member of South Bend's moot legislature.[12]
Colfax's success in the debating society and moot legislature made him prominent enough to take part in politics, and he was selected as a delegate to the1848 Whig National Convention, where he was selected as one of the gathering's secretaries and supportedZachary Taylor for the presidency.[17] He was next elected as a delegate to Indiana's 1849–1850 state constitutional convention.[17] Colfax wasthe 1851 Whig nominee for Congress in the district which included South Bend, but narrowly lost to hisDemocratic opponent,[17] primarily because he voted against a measure at the constitutional convention that stopped free African Americans from moving to Indiana.[17]
In 1852, Colfax was a delegate to theWhig National Convention and was selected to serve as a convention secretary.[17] He supportedWinfield Scott for president, and after Scott was nominated, Colfax took an active part in the campaign by making speeches and authoring and distributing newspaper articles and editorials.[18] In 1852, Colfax's political supporters encouraged him to make a second run for the U.S. House, but he declined.[19]
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In1854, Colfax ran for Congress again, this time as nominee of the short-livedIndiana People's Party, an anti-slavery movement which formed to oppose theKansas–Nebraska Act.[20] Colfax won and was reelected six times, representingIndiana's 9th congressional district from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1869.[21] During his House service, Colfax became a member of the leadership as chairman of theCommittee on Post Office and Post Roads, a post he held from 1859 to 1863.[22]
In 1855, Colfax considered joining theKnow Nothing Party because of the antislavery plank in its platform.[23] He was chosen as a delegate to the party's June convention without his knowledge. He had mixed feelings about the party and later denied being a member.[24] Although he agreed with many of its policies, he disapproved of its secrecy oath and citizenship test.[25] By the time of his 1856 campaign for re-election, the newRepublican Party had become the main anti-slavery party, and Colfax became an early member.[26]
Colfax was identified with theRadical Republicans in Congress and was an energetic opponent ofslavery.[27] His June 21, 1856, "Kansas Code" speech[28] attacking laws passed by theproslavery Legislature in Kansas became the most widely requested Republican campaign document.[2] Then, as the1860 presidential election approached, Colfax traveled frequently, delivered many speeches, and helped bind the various Republican and antislavery factions together into a unified party that could win the presidency.[2]
Before Lincoln's inauguration, Colfax's name was put forward by Indiana Republicans for appointment as postmaster general.[15] PresidentLincoln wrote him a warm letter stating that he considered him qualified and foretelling "a bright future" for the 37-year-old, but that he had already promised a cabinet position to anotherHoosier,Caleb Blood Smith.[29]
Colfax faced a difficult reelection campaign in1862 due to strong antiwar sentiments in Indiana, but won a narrow victory over DemocratDavid Turpie. Among the incumbents defeated that year wasSpeaker of the HouseGalusha Grow. When the38th Congress convened in December 1863, Colfax was elected speaker, despite President Lincoln's preference for someone less tied to the Radical Republicans.[2] Altogether, Colfax was elected speaker for three congresses:
During his first term as speaker, Colfax presided over the establishment of theFreedmen's Bureau, and helped secure congressional passage of theThirteenth Amendment, which, whenratified by the states, abolished slavery. Though it is unusual for the speaker to vote, except to break a tie, Colfax directed the clerk to call his name after theroll call vote had been taken. He then cast the final vote in favor of the amendment to much applause from its supporters in the House.[33]
In 1865, Colfax, along with author Samuel Bowles and Illinois Lieutenant GovernorWilliam Bross, set out across the western territories from Mississippi to the California coast to record their experiences. They compiled their observations in an 1869 book calledOur New West. Included in their book were details of the views of Los Angeles, with its wide panorama of vast citrus groves and orchards, and conversations withBrigham Young.
On September 17, 1867, Colfax, along with SenatorJohn Sherman, addressed a Republican meeting inLebanon, Ohio on the political situation in Washington.[34] Colfax said he was firmly against allowing those who participated in the Confederate rebellion to be reinstated in office and control Republican Reconstruction policy. Colfax affirmed that he was not in any way for repudiating the debt caused by the Confederate rebellion.[34] Colfax said Congressional reconstruction would give security and peace to the nation as opposed to President Johnson and his southern Democratic policies. Colfax favoredJohnson's impeachment, saying Johnson was recreant, a usurper, and was unfaithful in executing the Reconstruction laws of the land in granting a general amnesty to Southerners who had participated in the rebellion. Colfax told Republicans who were tired of Reconstruction to leave the party and join the Democrats.[34]
During the 1868 Republican Convention the Republicans nominatedUlysses S. Grant for president.[35] Known as "Smiler Colfax", Colfax was popular among Republicans for his friendly character, party loyalty, and Radical views onReconstruction, and he was selected for vice president on the fifth ballot.[36] Grant won the general election, and Colfax was elected the 17th Vice President of the United States.
On March 3, 1869, the final full day of the 40th Congress, Colfax, who was to besworn into office as vice president the next day, resigned as speaker. Immediately afterward, the House passed a motion declaringTheodore Pomeroy duly elected speaker in place of Colfax. In office for one day, Pomeroy's tenure is the shortest of any speaker of the U.S. House.[37]
Colfax was inaugurated March 4, 1869, and served until March 4, 1873. Grant and Colfax, 46 and 45 respectively at the time of their inauguration, were the youngest presidential and vice presidential team until the inauguration ofBill Clinton andAl Gore in 1993.[38]
Colfax andJohn Nance Garner, the first vice president under Franklin Roosevelt, are the only two vice presidents to have been Speaker of the House of Representatives prior to becoming vice president, and since the vice president is the President of the Senate, they are the only two people to have served as the presiding officers of both Houses of Congress.
On Friday, January 6, 1871, in a letter from Washington, D.C., published in theNew York Times, Colfax recognized and rejoiced in KingVictor Emmanuel II's victory of unifying Italy and setting up a new government in Rome. Colfax encouraged Italy to form a republican government that protected religious freedom, regardless of faith, and the civil rights of all individuals, including those who lived in poverty. Colfax said, "for out of this new life of civil and religious liberty will flow peace and happiness, progress and prosperity, with material and national development, and advancement as surely as healthy springs flow from fountains of purity."[39]
Prior to the 1872 Presidential election, Colfax believed that Grant would only serve one term as president.[36] In 1870, Colfax announced he would not run for political office in 1872.[36] Colfax's announcement failed to garner prominent support among Republicans for a presidential bid, as he had planned, while Grant decided to run for a second term.[36] In addition,Liberal Republican interest in Colfax as a possible presidential candidate alienated him from Grant and the regular Republicans. (The Liberal Republicans believed that the Grant administration was corrupt and were against Grant's attempted annexation of Santo Domingo.)[36] Colfax changed his mind and decided to run for the Republican nomination for vice president. He told his supporters that he would accept the nomination if it was offered.[36] However, Colfax's previously stated intent not to run in 1872 had created the possibility of a contested nomination, and SenatorHenry Wilson defeated Colfax by 399.5 delegates to 321.5.[36] Grant went on to win a second term, and Wilson became the 18th vice president of the United States.[36]
In September 1872, Colfax's reputation was marred by aNew York Sun article which indicated that he was involved in theCrédit Mobilier scandal. Colfax was one of several representatives and senators who had been offered (and possibly took) bribes of cash and discounted shares in theUnion Pacific Railroad's Crédit Mobilier subsidiary from CongressmanOakes Ames in 1868 for votes favorable to the Union Pacific during the building of theFirst transcontinental railroad.Henry Wilson was among those accused, but after initially denying a connection, he provided a complicated explanation to a Senate investigating committee, stating that his wife had purchased shares with her own money, and then later cancelled the transaction over concerns about its propriety. Wilson's reputation for integrity was somewhat dampened, but not enough to prevent him from becoming vice president.
Colfax also denied involvement and defended himself in person before aHouse investigative committee, testifying in January 1873 that he had never received a dividend check from Ames.[5] Despite his protests of innocence, the congressional investigation revealed that in 1868 Colfax had taken a $1,200 (~$23,491 in 2024) gift check for 20 shares of Crédit Mobilier stock from Ames. Colfax had deposited $1,200 in his bank account at the same time Ames recorded that he had paid Colfax $1,200.[40] Making matters worse for Colfax, the investigation also revealed that Colfax had also received a $4,000 (~$78,303 in 2024) gift in 1868 from a contractor who supplied envelopes to the federal government while Colfax was chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, and so had influence in the awarding of such contracts.[41] Afterward, a resolution toimpeach the vice president was introduced in the House, but failed to pass by a mostly party-line vote, mainly because the incidents took place during his tenure as congressman and because just a few weeks remained in his term.[41]
His political career ruined, Colfax left office under a cloud at the end of his term and never ran for office again.[35][41][42] His only consolation on that bitterly cold[43] March day was a hand-written letter from Ulysses Grant. In it, the president wrote,
I sympathize with you in the recent congressional investigations; that I have watched them closely, and that I am satisfied now as I have ever been of your integrity, patriotism and freedom from the charges imputed as if I knew of my own knowledge your innocence. Our official relations have been so pleasant that I would like to keep up the personal relations engendered, through life.[44]
After leaving office in March 1873, Colfax began to recover his reputation, embarking on a successful career as a traveling lecturer offering speeches on a variety of topics. His most requested presentation was one on the life of Abraham Lincoln, whom the nation had begun to turn into an icon. With an expanding population that desired to know more details and context about Lincoln's life and career, an oration from someone who had known him personally was an attraction audiences were willing to pay to hear, and Colfax delivered his Lincoln lecture hundreds of times to positive reviews.
In 1875, he became vice president of the Indiana Reaper and Iron Company.[45] On February 12, 1875, having returned to Washington, D.C., to give a lecture, he advised his friends in Congress who were frustrated over the slow pace of action: "Ah! the way to get out of politics is to get out of politics."[45]
He had remained popular in his home area, and was often encouraged to run again for public office, but he always declined. Finally, in April 1882, when pressed to consider becoming a candidate for his old U.S. House seat in theupcoming election, Colfax announced in a letter to theSouth Bend Tribune that, while he deeply appreciated how much his friends wanted him to run for public office again, he was satisfied by the 20 years of service he had given during the "stormiest years of our nation's history." He also said that he was enjoying his life as a private citizen, and would neither be a candidate nor accept any nomination for any office in the future, stating that his "only ambition now is to go in and out among my townsmen as a private citizen during what years of life may remain for me to enjoy on this earth".[46]
January 13, 1885, was a brutally cold day inMankato, Minnesota. Nevertheless, Colfax walked from Mankato's Front Street depot to theOmaha depot, about three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) in −30 °F (−34 °C) weather, intending to change trains on his way toRock Rapids, Iowa, to give a speech.[47] Five minutes after arriving, Colfax died, because he had a heart attack due to the extreme cold and exhaustion.[48]
He was buried atCity Cemetery in South Bend.[49] A historical marker in Mankato's Washington Park, site of the former depot, marks the spot where he died.[50]
Colfax was married twice:
Colfax was a member of theIndependent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). In 1850, Colfax and members William T. Martin of Mississippi and E. G. Steel of Tennessee were appointed to prepare a ritual pertaining to theRebekah Degree and present a report at the 1851 annual meeting.[52] On September 20, 1851, the IOOF approved the degree and Colfax was credited as its author and founder.[53][54]
In 1854 Colfax was initiated into theBeta Theta Pi fraternity atDePauw University as an honorary member.[55]
Colfax was initiated into the fraternity ofFree & Accepted Masons as an Entered Apprentice at Washington D.C.'s Lebanon Lodge No. 7 on August 15, 1856. He completed his Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees at St. Joseph Lodge No. 45 in South Bend, Indiana. He was not an especially active member; after failing to pay his dues, he was dropped from the rolls of Lebanon Lodge on December 16, 1864.[56]
Colfax's 20 years of public service ended in controversy in 1873 due to the revelation that he was involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. He never returned to seek political office in part because he believed that it was best to stay out of politics once leaving office, and in part because he was content with his life as a private citizen. Because of his success as a lecturer, his reputation was somewhat restored.
TheRevenue Cutter Service commissioned and named an iron-framed side-wheel steamer after Colfax in 1871. It served along the Atlantic Coast and hosted President McKinley aboard prior to her decommissioning in 1899.[57]
Towns in the U.S. states ofCalifornia,North Carolina,Illinois,Washington,Wisconsin,Indiana,Iowa,Texas, andLouisiana are named after him.Schuyler, Nebraska, named after Colfax, is the county seat ofColfax County, Nebraska. The ghost town ofColfax, Colorado, was named after him, as wasColfax County, New Mexico.
Colfax Avenue inSouth Bend is named in his honor. Colfax's home of his adult years stood on that street, at 601 W. Market St. The city later renamed the street in his honor. The Colfax home was demolished and, as of 2025[update], anEvangelical Presbyterian Church church stands on the spot. There is another Colfax Avenue inMishawaka, Indiana, the city just east of South Bend. There is also a Colfax Avenue in the Grant City section of Staten Island, one of the boroughs ofNew York City. The main east–west street traversingAurora,Denver, andLakewood, Colorado, and abutting theColorado State Capitol is namedColfax Avenue in the politician's honor; it is also known as the longest continuous commercial street in the U.S.[58] There is also a Colfax Place in the Highland Square neighborhood inAkron, Ohio; inMinneapolis, Minnesota; inRoselle Park, New Jersey; and a Colfax Street onChicago's South Side. There is a Colfax Street inSpringdale, Pennsylvania, that leads up Mt. Colfax as well as one inPalatine, Illinois, inEvanston, Illinois, and inJamestown, New York.Dallas, Texas, and one of its suburbs,Richardson, each have separate residential roads named Colfax Drive. There is also a Colfax Avenue in theSan Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles[59] and inConcord, California, as well as inBenton Harbor, Michigan.
Colfax School was built inSouth Bend and opened in 1898, just a few blocks from the Schuyler Colfax home. As of 2019, the school building still stands at 914 Lincoln Way West, although it is no longer a school and is known as Colfax Cultural Center. In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the downtown movie theaters was The Colfax. There is a Colfax Elementary School inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[60] TheSchuyler-Colfax House inWayne, New Jersey, which was built by Colfax's ancestors, was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1973.[61]
The Schuyler Colfax monument in Colfax, California, was made in his honor.[62] There is another statue of Colfax in Indianapolis, Indiana.[63]
ActorBill Raymond portrayed Colfax during his time as Speaker in the 2012Steven Spielberg filmLincoln.[64] While Colfax was in his early forties during the period depicted in the film, Raymond was in his early seventies when the film was made.[65][2]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's 9th congressional district 1855–1869 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives 1863–1869 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice President of the United States 1869–1873 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republicannominee for Vice President of the United States 1868 | Succeeded by |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. Lincoln and Johnson ran on the National Union ticket in 1864. | ||
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| Note | *Name shortened fromReform in the Civil Service toCivil Service in 1925. | |
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