To protest Garfield’s denial of his control over New York patronage, Conkling resigned his U.S. Senate seat and persuaded Sen. Thomas Platt, a New York politician open to payments from both Conkling’s friend Collis P. Huntington and Jay Gould, to resign also. Both expected to be immediately reelected by the New York legislature, demonstrating to Garfield and to Conkling’s many enemies his control over the state machinery. Platt, however, got caught in bed with another man’s wife, derailing his reelection.
