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Roscoe Conkling of New York: Voice in the Senate
Biography. Orange cloth covers very nice, corners and spine ends bumped. Dust jacket rubbed, moderate edge wear with small tears and chips. Interior clean and tight.
- GenresBiography
477 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 1971
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David M. Jordan
16 books5 followersA longtime Philadelphia baseball fan, David M. Jordan is a retired attorney and the author of nine books on the Civil War, political events, and baseball.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2019
Roscoe Conkling was about The Gilded Age, the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant where he was the
administration floor leader, the unchallenged Republican boss of New York State and a brilliant mind.
The sad thing is he chose not to use it for making improvements on the human condition.
He was born in 1829 in Utica, New York and developed Whig and Republican principles rather early
on as well as a detestation of slavery. He was a lawyer of considerable talent and before going to
the House of Representatives in 1859 was both District Attorney of Oneida County and Mayor of
Utica. He was also one impossible snob.
He could move crowds with flights of oratory, but detested one on one contact with people. The big
drawback to being in the House of Representatives was constituents. When he could move to the
Senate he did so in 1867 the first of three elections there. Remember this was when Senators were
chosen by the State Legislatures. No more constituents.
He was and remained committed all his life to civil rights. He also was committed to unchecked
and rapacious capitalism that typified the Gilded Age. He and Ulysses S. Grant hit it off and as
political boss of the largest state got the largest share of federal patronage.
Conkling was a man of affairs and had a wife and daughter up in Utica. The wife he ignored, but
provided for. The daughter he doted on mostly from a distance. When she married someone he
didn't like he broke off relations with her.
He had one feud going for 20+ years with James G. Blaine who was also a representative of the Gilded Age, but had an outgoing gregarious personality the opposite of Conkling. He made a crack
on the House floor about Conking's vanity by saying he had a turkey gobbler strut. Conkling made
it his life's work to deny Blaine the presidency.
Conkling made a bid to succeed Grant in 1876. But Rutherford B. Hayes got the nomination and the
election. Hayes believed in civil service and took it seriously and struck at the heart of Conkling's
patronage empire, the Customs House of New York City. He fired Chester A. Arthur who was
Conkling's man. Hayes's attempts at civil service went nowhere and by his own choice served only
one term.
If you believe in a Supreme Deity what happens in the next couple of years is one ironic cosmic
joke on Roscoe Conkling. In 1880 the presidential nomination goes to James A. Garfield and he
chooses the selfsame fired Chet Arthur as his running mate. Conkling feels the offer should have
been made through him and says so. But Arthur said he was taking it and Roscoe stewed.
In the brief time of the Garfield presidency it was taken up with the appointment of a James G. Blaine friend William Robertson as Collector of the Port of New York. Conkling claimed this was a
breech of senatorial courtesy and held up the whole Senate on this point. When he lost Conkling
claimed lese majeste and resigned and his fellow Senator Thomas C. Platt. Conkling was confident
the legislature would re-elect him as the GOP was in solid control.
Big surprise they voted in a pair of Senators named Elbridge Lapham for Conking's remaining term
and Warner Miller for Platt. Miller was a Blaine supporter. Both were serving in the House at
the time and neither made much of a mark in either house of Congress. But I suspect that legislature's Republican members were tired of Lord Roscoe's overbearing ways.
While all this is going on President Garfield is shot on July 2 and dies on September 19, 1881. Conking's former henchman Chet Arthur is now president. In 1882 Arthur offers Conkling a Supreme Court appointment and gets turned down rather haughtily. And then Arthur in the great
achievement of his administration signs the Pendleton Act which is the beginning of the federal
civil service.
For the last 7 years of his life Conkling made a very good living as an attorney to the rich and powerful in New York. He got caught out in the great blizzard of 1888 and died of the illness it
brought on.
Conkling is overbearing, arrogant, and haughty. But he had to have been a brilliant man to have
gotten as far as he did and to hold sway and control over so many. David M. Jordan's book faithfully tells a fascinating story.
administration floor leader, the unchallenged Republican boss of New York State and a brilliant mind.
The sad thing is he chose not to use it for making improvements on the human condition.
He was born in 1829 in Utica, New York and developed Whig and Republican principles rather early
on as well as a detestation of slavery. He was a lawyer of considerable talent and before going to
the House of Representatives in 1859 was both District Attorney of Oneida County and Mayor of
Utica. He was also one impossible snob.
He could move crowds with flights of oratory, but detested one on one contact with people. The big
drawback to being in the House of Representatives was constituents. When he could move to the
Senate he did so in 1867 the first of three elections there. Remember this was when Senators were
chosen by the State Legislatures. No more constituents.
He was and remained committed all his life to civil rights. He also was committed to unchecked
and rapacious capitalism that typified the Gilded Age. He and Ulysses S. Grant hit it off and as
political boss of the largest state got the largest share of federal patronage.
Conkling was a man of affairs and had a wife and daughter up in Utica. The wife he ignored, but
provided for. The daughter he doted on mostly from a distance. When she married someone he
didn't like he broke off relations with her.
He had one feud going for 20+ years with James G. Blaine who was also a representative of the Gilded Age, but had an outgoing gregarious personality the opposite of Conkling. He made a crack
on the House floor about Conking's vanity by saying he had a turkey gobbler strut. Conkling made
it his life's work to deny Blaine the presidency.
Conkling made a bid to succeed Grant in 1876. But Rutherford B. Hayes got the nomination and the
election. Hayes believed in civil service and took it seriously and struck at the heart of Conkling's
patronage empire, the Customs House of New York City. He fired Chester A. Arthur who was
Conkling's man. Hayes's attempts at civil service went nowhere and by his own choice served only
one term.
If you believe in a Supreme Deity what happens in the next couple of years is one ironic cosmic
joke on Roscoe Conkling. In 1880 the presidential nomination goes to James A. Garfield and he
chooses the selfsame fired Chet Arthur as his running mate. Conkling feels the offer should have
been made through him and says so. But Arthur said he was taking it and Roscoe stewed.
In the brief time of the Garfield presidency it was taken up with the appointment of a James G. Blaine friend William Robertson as Collector of the Port of New York. Conkling claimed this was a
breech of senatorial courtesy and held up the whole Senate on this point. When he lost Conkling
claimed lese majeste and resigned and his fellow Senator Thomas C. Platt. Conkling was confident
the legislature would re-elect him as the GOP was in solid control.
Big surprise they voted in a pair of Senators named Elbridge Lapham for Conking's remaining term
and Warner Miller for Platt. Miller was a Blaine supporter. Both were serving in the House at
the time and neither made much of a mark in either house of Congress. But I suspect that legislature's Republican members were tired of Lord Roscoe's overbearing ways.
While all this is going on President Garfield is shot on July 2 and dies on September 19, 1881. Conking's former henchman Chet Arthur is now president. In 1882 Arthur offers Conkling a Supreme Court appointment and gets turned down rather haughtily. And then Arthur in the great
achievement of his administration signs the Pendleton Act which is the beginning of the federal
civil service.
For the last 7 years of his life Conkling made a very good living as an attorney to the rich and powerful in New York. He got caught out in the great blizzard of 1888 and died of the illness it
brought on.
Conkling is overbearing, arrogant, and haughty. But he had to have been a brilliant man to have
gotten as far as he did and to hold sway and control over so many. David M. Jordan's book faithfully tells a fascinating story.
February 6, 2021
Needs a modern biography to ask this generations questions.
October 24, 2019
Great book if you want to learn about Roscoe Conkling and the New York machine. There's alot of information here; his relationships with Grant and Arthur, his feud with James Blaine and his battles with Presidents Hayes and Garfield. A lot of stuff happens throughout this book, but I have no complaints.
July 9, 2019
A tragic figure. Brilliant but selfish, he never found a higher purpose for his career beyond keeping his political machine in power. He was fueled by hatred not love.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews