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Born: July 29, 1825
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Died: November 24, 1889
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Complete HarpWeek Biography:
George Pendleton, U.S. representative, senator, and 1864 Democratic
vice-presidential nominee, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the oldest child of
Nathaniel Greene Pendleton and Jane Frances Hunt Pendleton. After studying at
Cincinnati College until 1841, he continued his studies on a Grand Tour of
Europe and the Middle East, matriculating for a while at the University of
Heidelberg. When he returned to America in 1846 he married Alice Key, the
daughter of Francis Scott Key (author of "The Star-Spangled Banner")
and niece of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Admitted to the Ohio bar the next
year, Pendleton practiced law until 1853 when he won a commanding victory to the
state senate as a Democrat. Impressing colleagues with his legislative skill, he
was nominated for Congress in 1854. Although unsuccessful, he was subsequently
elected in 1856 and served until 1865. During the crisis over the issue of
slavery in Kansas, Pendleton opposed the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution,
allying himself with Senator Stephan Douglas against President James Buchanan.
In 1860 Pendleton endorsed Douglas for president, then favored the Crittendon
Compromise during the secession winter. During the Civil War, Pendelton was a
principled critic of Lincoln administration policies and a leader of the peace
wing of the Democratic party. He particularly opposed the suppression of civil
liberties, such as the suspension of habeas corpus and the replacement of
civilian with military authority, and considered the legal tender act (making
paper currency legal) to be unconstitutional. He served on the House Judiciary
Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, and as one the House managers of the
impeachment of Judge West Humphreys. Despite policy differences, Pendleton's
skill and diplomacy won respect on both sides of the political aisle. His
mannerly dignity was reflected in the nickname "Gentleman George." In
1864 the Democratic party nominated him for vice president. He was defeated for
reelection to Congress in 1866.
In the post-war era Pendleton became a Greenbacker, an abrupt change of his
monetary views in which he had previously opposed paper money as
unconstitutional. Thereafter he supported the "Ohio Idea" of paying
government bonds in paper currency ("greenbacks"), rather than in gold
coins ("hard money"). His new "soft money" position lost him
support among Democrats from the Northeast, which kept him from securing the
party's presidential nomination in 1868. Ohio Democrats chose him as their
gubernatorial candidate the next year, but he lost to Rutherford B. Hayes. After
that electoral defeat, Pendleton became president of the Kentucky Central
Railroad.
In 1878, the Ohio state legislature elected him to the United States Senate,
where he championed civil service reform. As chair of the Senate committee on
civil service, he steered through Congress legislation for merit appointments
and advancement in the federal bureaucracy, which became known as the Pendleton
Act of 1883. His stance on the issue angered Democratic supporters of the old
patronage system, who denied renomination to him in 1884. President Grover
Cleveland named him minister to Germany in 1885, where he served until his death
in Brussels, Belgium, in 1889.
Source consulted: American National Biography. |
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