Thomas A. Hendricks

Thomas A. Hendricks
Portrait, 1875
21st Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885
President	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Chester A. Arthur
Succeeded by	Levi P. Morton
16th Governor of Indiana
In office January 13, 1873 – January 8, 1877
Lieutenant	Leonidas Sexton
Preceded by	Conrad Baker
Succeeded by	James D. Williams
United States Senator from Indiana
In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1869
Preceded by	David Turpie
Succeeded by	Daniel D. Pratt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana
In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	William Brown
Succeeded by	Lucien Barbour
Constituency	5th district (1851–1853) 6th district (1853–1855)
Personal details
Born	Thomas Andrews Hendricks (1819-09-07)September 7, 1819 Fultonham, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 25, 1885(1885-11-25) (aged 66) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Resting place	Crown Hill Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Eliza Morgan
Children	1
Education	Hanover College (BA)
Profession	Attorney
Signature

Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819 – November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his death in November 1885. Hendricks represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851–1855) and the U.S. Senate (1863–1869). He also represented Shelby County, Indiana, in the Indiana General Assembly (1848–1850) and as a delegate to the 1851 Indiana constitutional convention. In addition, Hendricks served as commissioner of the United States General Land Office (1855–1859). Hendricks, a popular member of the Democratic Party, was a fiscal conservative. He defended the Democratic position in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era and voted against the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He also opposed Radical Reconstruction and President Andrew Johnson's removal from office following Johnson's impeachment in the U.S. House.

Born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Hendricks moved to Indiana, with his parents in 1820; the family settled in Shelby County in 1822. After graduating from Hanover College, class of 1841, Hendricks studied law in Shelbyville, Indiana, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1843. Hendricks began his law practice in Shelbyville, moved to Indianapolis in 1860, and established a private law practice with Oscar B. Hord in 1862. The firm evolved into Baker & Daniels, one of the state's leading law firms. Hendricks also ran for election as Indiana's governor three times, but won only once. In 1872, on his third and final attempt, Hendricks defeated General Thomas M. Brown by a margin of 1,148 votes. His term as governor of Indiana was marked by numerous challenges, including a strong Republican majority in the Indiana General Assembly, the economic Panic of 1873, and an economic depression. One of Hendricks's lasting legacies during his tenure as governor was initiating discussions to fund construction of the present-day Indiana Statehouse, which was completed after he left office. A memorial to Hendricks was installed on the southeast corner of its grounds in 1890.

Hendricks, a lifelong Democrat, was his party's nominee for vice president as the running mate of New York governor Samuel Tilden in the controversial presidential election of 1876. Although they won the popular vote, Tilden and Hendricks lost the election by one vote in the Electoral College to the Republican Party's presidential nominee, Rutherford B. Hayes, and his vice presidential running mate, William A. Wheeler. Despite his poor health, Hendricks accepted his party's nomination for vice president in the election of 1884 as Grover Cleveland's running mate. Cleveland and Hendricks won the election, but Hendricks only served as vice president for about eight months, from March 4, 1885, until his death on November 25, 1885, in Indianapolis. He is buried in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.