William A. Wheeler

William A. Wheeler
Wheeler in 1877
19th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881
President	Rutherford B. Hayes
Preceded by	Henry Wilson
Succeeded by	Chester A. Arthur
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York
In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	Calvin T. Hulburd
Succeeded by	Amaziah B. James
Constituency	17th district (1869–1873) 18th district (1873–1875) 19th district (1875–1877)
In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	George Palmer
Succeeded by	Orlando Kellogg
Constituency	16th district
Member of the New York Senate from the 17th district
In office January 1, 1858 – December 31, 1859
Preceded by	Joseph H. Ramsey
Succeeded by	Charles C. Montgomery
Member of the New York State Assembly from the Franklin County district
In office January 1, 1850 – December 31, 1851
Preceded by	George Gove
Succeeded by	Darius Lawrence
Personal details
Born	William Almon Wheeler (1819-06-30)June 30, 1819 Malone, New York, U.S.
Died	June 4, 1887(1887-06-04) (aged 67) Malone, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Morningside Cemetery, Malone, New York, U.S.
Political party	Whig Republican
Spouse	Mary King ​ ​ (m. 1845; died 1876)​
Parents	Almon Wheeler Eliza Woodworth
Education	University of Vermont (BA)
Profession	Attorney
Signature

William Almon Wheeler (June 30, 1819 – June 4, 1887) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 19th vice president of the United States from 1877 to 1881 under President Rutherford B. Hayes. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a United States representative from New York from 1861 to 1863 and 1869 to 1877.

Born in Malone, New York, Wheeler pursued a legal career after attending the University of Vermont. After serving in various local positions, he won election to the New York State Legislature. He served in Congress from 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877. He was widely respected for his integrity and refused a salary increase after Congress passed an 1873 pay raise that he opposed.

After the 1876 Republican National Convention settled on Rutherford B. Hayes as the party's presidential nominee after seven ballots, the delegates nominated Wheeler for vice president. Nominated by Congressman Luke P. Poland, Wheeler surged into an early lead over Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Marshall Jewell, and Stewart L. Woodford to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Wheeler was nominated because he was popular among his colleagues and had worked to avoid making enemies in Congress. In addition, as a resident of the populous Eastern state of New York, he provided geographical balance to the ticket, since Hayes was from the populous Midwest state of Ohio. The Republican ticket prevailed in the contentious 1876 presidential election, though they lost the popular vote. Though they had not known each other before the convention, Wheeler and Hayes got along amicably while in office. They chose not to seek second terms, and Wheeler returned to Malone, New York, after the end of his term. He died in 1887 and was buried at Morningside Cemetery in Malone.

During Wheeler's vice presidency, the Hayes administration abandoned post-Civil War Reconstruction and pursued an alliance between Northern Republicans and Old Southern Whigs. Hayes hoped former Whigs who made up the South's business and merchant classes would supplant the Democratic plantation owners who dominated politics and government. This scenario did not materialize, and the end of Republican efforts to ensure civil rights and social equality for former slaves doomed Southern blacks to oppression by white supremacists, who enacted Jim Crow laws that lasted for decades.