|
|
|
|
| |
   |
|
| |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Born: September 30, 1824
|
|
Died: September 10, 1889
|
|
|
|
|
|
Complete HarpWeek Biography:
S.S. "Sunset" Cox, U.S. representative
and author, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, to Mary Matilda Sullivan Cox and
Ezekiel Taylor Cox, a publisher. He attended Ohio University, then transferred
to Brown University, graduating in 1846. He returned to Ohio to study law,
passing the bar in 1849. That same year he married Julia Ann Buckingham; they
had no children and a very happy marriage. Their honeymoon in Europe was the
basis for his first book (of ten), A Buckeye Abroad (1852). In 1853 he
bought controlling interest in the Columbus, Ohio, Statesman, which he
edited. In its pages, his rhapsodic description of a sunset earned him the
nickname "Sunset."
In 1855 illness precluded Cox from assuming a
diplomatic appointment as secretary to the American legation in Lima, Peru. The
next year, however, he won election as a Democrat to the House of
Representatives, where he would spend most of his professional career. During
the political strife of the late 1850s, Cox advocated compromise on the slavery
issue. Once the Civil War began, he supported the war effort to restore the
Union, but opposed emancipation and violations of civil liberties. Although he
was personally opposed to racial equality and voted against the 13th
Amendment, he also believed that the Democratic party needed to shed its
pro-slavery image; therefore, he convinced enough of his Democratic colleagues
to abstain so that the amendment abolishing slavery was able to pass the House.
Having lost his reelection bid in the 1864
election because of gerrymandering, Cox moved in the spring of 1865 to New York
City to practice law. Backed by Tammany Hall, he won another seat in Congress in
1868. Known for his wit and eloquence, Cox opposed Republican policies of
Radical Reconstruction and high tariffs. His two pet causes were the Life Saving
Service and the Post Office for which he strove to improve the service and
working conditions of both. In 1872 gerrymandering again resulted in a
reelection loss, but he won a special election the next year following the death
of James Brooks. When the Democratic party secured a House majority in the 1874
elections, Cox expected to win the speakership. Michael Kerr of Indiana was
selected instead, but Cox served as speaker pro tempore during Kerr’s long
illness. Despite that position and committee chairmanships, Cox was less
influential and effective than he had been in the past as a leader of the
minority.
In 1885 Grover Cleveland, the first Democratic
president since the Civil War, named Cox as U.S. minister to Turkey. He served
only one year, however, returning to America to win election to the House once
again. In the politically volatile 19th century, Cox was unusual for
the long length of time that he served in Congress. His other publications
include The Diplomat in Turkey; Eight Years in Congress; Free
Land and Free Trade; Puritanism in Politics; Three Decades of
Federal Legislation; and Why We Laugh.
Sources consulted: American National Biography;
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; Harper’s
Encyclopedia of United States History. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
