US Senator, US Congressman, Louisiana Governor, Civil War Union Army Officer. After his graduation from Norwich College in Vermont in 1848, he moved to Peoria, Illinois, where he taught school while studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1853 and practiced law in Canton, Illinois. It was at this time he befriended another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, an association which served him well. During the presidential election of 1860 he was a member of the Illinois delegation to the electoral college which "elected" the Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Shorty after the inauguration, Lincoln appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Nebraska. He resigned that post immediately after hostilities broke out between the North and South. He returned to Illinois and was commissioned Colonel of the 7th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. He served under General John Pope in Missouri and at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, until ill health forced him to resign his commission. Lincoln next appointed him as Collector of the Port of New Orleans on April 13, 1865, just one day before Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. He remained in that post until July 1868 when, following Louisiana's readmission to the Union, he was elected to represent that state in the United States Senate. He resigned from the Senate in November 1872 to become Governor of Louisiana. Following one term in the statehouse, he was again elected to the United States Senate, remaining there until March of 1883 when he declined to stand for reelection. He did, however, run for election to the United States House of Representatives where he served for a single term. In 1885 he retired from public life, taking up permanent residence in Washington D.C., where he would later die.

US Senator, US Congressman, Louisiana Governor, Civil War Union Army Officer. After his graduation from Norwich College in Vermont in 1848, he moved to Peoria, Illinois, where he taught school while studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1853 and practiced law in Canton, Illinois. It was at this time he befriended another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, an association which served him well. During the presidential election of 1860 he was a member of the Illinois delegation to the electoral college which "elected" the Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Shorty after the inauguration, Lincoln appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Nebraska. He resigned that post immediately after hostilities broke out between the North and South. He returned to Illinois and was commissioned Colonel of the 7th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. He served under General John Pope in Missouri and at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, until ill health forced him to resign his commission. Lincoln next appointed him as Collector of the Port of New Orleans on April 13, 1865, just one day before Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. He remained in that post until July 1868 when, following Louisiana's readmission to the Union, he was elected to represent that state in the United States Senate. He resigned from the Senate in November 1872 to become Governor of Louisiana. Following one term in the statehouse, he was again elected to the United States Senate, remaining there until March of 1883 when he declined to stand for reelection. He did, however, run for election to the United States House of Representatives where he served for a single term. In 1885 he retired from public life, taking up permanent residence in Washington D.C., where he would later die.