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John Sherman (politician)




John Sherman ( May 10 , 1823October 22 , 1900 ) was a Senator from Ohio and a member of the United States Cabinet .

He was born in Lancaster, Ohio , and was the younger brother of the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman . Their father, Charles Robert Sherman , became a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court about the time John was born, but died when John was only six years old.

Before entering politics, he practiced Law , studying under an older brother and joining him as a partner in 1844 . In 1848 he married a judge's daughter, Margaret Sarah Stewart. In 1848 he served as a delegate to the Whig convention that nominated Zachary Taylor for President . In 1852 he again served as a convention delegate, at the Baltimore convention that nominated Winfield Scott . He served in the House Of Representatives from 1855 to 1861 .

He was first elected to a term in the Senate beginning 1861 , and served until 1877 , when he resigned to join the Cabinet .

He served as Secretary Of The Treasury in the cabinet of President Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1881 .

He sought the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1880 , hoping to become a compromise candidate between Ulysses S. Grant , who was being promoted for a third term, and James G. Blaine . However, his campaign manager, Representative and Senator-elect James A. Garfield , received the nomination instead. Sherman returned to the Senate, taking the seat to which the Ohio Legislature had originally elected Garfield, replacing Allen G. Thurman , in 1881 , serving until 1897 , when he resigned once more to join the Cabinet . He served as chair of the Senate Republican Conference , 1884-1885 and 1891-1897.

President William McKinley appointed Sherman as his Secretary Of State on assuming office, and Sherman served in that position from 1897 to 1898 .

Mr. Sherman vehemently opposed the income tax proposal of 1894: "In a republic like ours, where all men are equal, this attempt to array the rich against the poor or the poor against the rich is socialism, communism, devilism." {Link without Title}

He died in Washington, D.C.

Sherman is best known for the Sherman Antitrust Act , of which he was the chief author.

  Before Salmon P Chase
  Title United States Senator (Class 3) From Ohio
  After Stanley Matthews
  Years 1861 &ndash 1877


  Before Lot M Morrill
  Title United States Secretary Of The Treasury
  Years 1877 &ndash 1881


  Title United States Senator (Class 1) From Ohio
  Before Allen G Thurman
  After Marcus A Hanna
  Years 1881 &ndash 1897


  Title President ''pro Tempore'' Of The United States Senate
  Before George F Edmunds
  Years December 7 , 1885 &ndash February 26 , 1887
  After John James Ingalls


  Before Richard Olney
  Title United States Secretary Of State
  Years 1897 &ndash 1898