Schuyler Colfax

In 1855 Colfax considered joining the Know Nothing Party because of the antislavery plank in its platform.[23] He was selected, without his knowledge, to be a delegate to the party's June convention, but had mixed feelings about the party and subsequently denied having been a member.[24] Although he agreed with many Know Nothing policies, he disapproved of its secrecy oath and citizenship test.[25] By the time of his 1856 campaign for re-election, the new Republican Party had become the main anti-slavery party, and Colfax became an early member.[26]

Colfax was identified with the Radical Republicans in Congress, and was an energetic opponent of slavery.[27] His June 21, 1856 "Kansas Code" speech[28] attacking laws passed by the proslavery Legislature in Kansas became the most widely requested Republican campaign document.[2] Then, as the 1860 presidential election approached, Colfax traveled frequently, delivered many speeches, and helped bind the various Republican and antislavery factions together into a unified party that could win the presidency.[2]

John C. Frémont

Before Lincoln's inauguration, Colfax's name was put forward by Indiana Republicans for appointment as postmaster general.[15] President Lincoln wrote him a warm letter stating that he considered him qualified and foretelling "a bright future" for the 37-year-old, but that he had already promised a cabinet position to another Hoosier, Caleb Blood Smith.[29]

At the start of the Civil War Major General John C. Frémont commanded Union Army forces in St. Louis, Missouri.[30] On September 3, 1861 Confederate General Sterling Price defeated Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon at the Battle of Wilson's Creek.[31] During the battle, Price's Confederate troops under Leonidas Polk occupied Columbus, Kentucky.[32] Frémont was blamed for not reinforcing Lyon, who had been killed in the fighting.[33] On September 6, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, under Frémont's authority, took Paducah without a fight and established a Union supply base in Kentucky.[32] Colfax, concerned over the Confederate Army's occupation of Kentucky and threatened Union security of Missouri, decided to visit Frémont.[34]

After his arrival in St. Louis, Colfax met Frémont on September 14, 1861, and petitioned him to send troops to cut off Price from capturing Lexington.[35] Colfax believed Frémont had 20,000 troops under his command in St. Louis. Frémont informed Colfax that he only had 8,000 troops in St. Louis and was unable to spare any.[30] In addition Frémont told Colfax that Lincoln and federal authorities in Washington had requested him to dispatch 5,000 of his troops elsewhere.[35] Colfax suggested that Frémont reply that he could not spare any troops or Missouri would be lost to the Confederacy. Frémont declined, recognizing that he had a reputation for being insubordinate because he had earlier imposed a controversial August 30 edict that put Missouri under martial law and emancipated rebel slaves beyond what was included in Lincoln's Confiscation Act, and not wanting to appear unwilling to follow the instructions of his superiors.[30][36] Price captured Lexington on September 20 and threatened to take the whole state of Missouri.[35] Frémont finally responded on September 29, arriving at Sedalia with 38,000 troops and threatening to trap the rebels against the Missouri River.[37] Price abandoned Lexington, and soon was forced to abandon the state headed to Arkansas and later Mississippi.[37]

On November 1, seven weeks after Colfax's visit, Frémont ordered Grant to make demonstrations along the Mississippi against the Confederates, but not to directly engage the enemy. The following day Frémont was relieved from command by Lincoln for refusing to revoke his August 30 edict. On November 7, Grant attacked Belmont drawing Confederate troops from Columbus and inflicting Confederate casualties. In February 1862, Grant, in combination with the Union navy, captured Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson, forcing Polk to abandon Columbus. The Confederate army was finally pushed out of Kentucky after Union General Don Carlos Buell defeated Confederate General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862.

Colfax faced a difficult reelection campaign in 1862 due to strong antiwar sentiments in Indiana, but won a narrow victory over Democrat David Turpie. Among the incumbents defeated that year was Speaker of the House Galusha Grow. When the 38th Congress convened in December 1863, Colfax was elected speaker, despite President Lincoln's preference for someone less tied to the Radical Republicans.[2] Altogether, Colfax was elected speaker for three congresses:

• 38th Congress[38]
    ■ Schuyler Colfax (R–IN) – 101 (55.50%)
    ■ Samuel S. Cox (D–OH) – 42 (23.08%)
    ■ Others – 39 (21.42%)
• 39th Congress[39]
    ■ Schuyler Colfax (R–IN) – 139 (79.43%)
    ■ James Brooks (D–NY) – 36 (20.57%)
• 40th Congress[40]
    ■ Schuyler Colfax (R–IN) – 127 (80.89%)
    ■ Samuel S. Marshall (D–IL) – 30 (19.11%)

During his first term as speaker, Colfax presided over the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and helped secure congressional passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which, when ratified by the states, abolished slavery. Though it is unusual for the speaker to vote, except to break a tie, Colfax directed the clerk to call his name after the roll call vote had been taken. He then cast the final vote in favor of the amendment to much applause from its supporters in the House.[41]

In 1865, Colfax, along with author Samuel Bowles and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois William Bross, set out across the western territories from Mississippi to the California coast to record their experiences. They compiled their observations in an 1869 book called Our New West. Included in their book were details of the views of Los Angeles, with its wide panorama of vast citrus groves and orchards, and conversations with Brigham Young.

On September 17, 1867, Colfax, along with Senator John Sherman, addressed a Republican meeting in Lebanon, Ohio on the political situation in Washington.[42] Colfax said he was firmly against allowing those who participated in the Confederate rebellion to be reinstated in office and control Republican Reconstruction policy. Colfax affirmed that he was not in any way for repudiating the debt caused by the Confederate rebellion.[42] Colfax said Congressional reconstruction would give security and peace to the nation as opposed to President Johnson and his southern Democratic policies. Colfax favored Johnson's impeachment saying Johnson was recreant, a usurper, and was unfaithful in executing the Reconstruction laws of the land in granting a general amnesty to Southerners who had participated in the rebellion. Colfax told Republicans who were tired of Reconstruction to leave the party and join the Democrats.[42]

Grant Colfax 1868 Campaign Poster

During the 1868 Republican Convention the Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant for president.[43] Colfax was selected for vice president on the fifth ballot.[44] Colfax was popular among Republicans for his friendly character, party loyalty, and Radical views on Reconstruction.[44] Among Republicans he was known as "Smiler Colfax."[44] Grant won the general election, and Colfax was elected the 17th Vice President of the United States.

On March 3, 1869, the final full day of the 40th Congress, Colfax, who was to be sworn into office as vice president the next day, resigned as speaker. Immediately afterward, the House passed a motion declaring Theodore Pomeroy duly elected speaker in place of Colfax. In office for one day, his is the shortest tenure of any speaker of the U.S. House.[45]

On Friday, January 6, 1871, from Washington, D.C., in a letter published in the New York Times, Colfax recognized and rejoiced in King Victor Emmanuel II's victory of unifying Italy and setting up a new government in Rome. Colfax encouraged Italy to form a Republican government that protected religious freedom, regardless of faith, and the civil rights of all individuals, including those who lived in poverty. Colfax said, "for out of this new life of civil and religious liberty will flow peace and happiness, progress and prosperity, with material and national development, and advancement as surely as healthy springs flow from fountains of purity."[47]

Prior to the 1872 Presidential election, Colfax believed that Grant would only serve one term as president.[44] In 1870 Colfax announced he would not run for political office in 1872.[44] Colfax's announcement failed to garner prominent support among Republicans for a presidential bid, as he had planned, while Grant decided to run for a second term.[44] In addition, Liberal Republican interest in Colfax as a possible presidential candidate alienated him from Grant and the regular Republicans. (The Liberal Republicans believed that the Grant administration was corrupt and were against Grant's attempted annexation of Santo Domingo.)[44] Colfax reversed course and became a candidate for the Republican vice presidential nomination by informing his supporters that he would accept it if it was offered.[44] However, Colfax's previously stated intent not to run in 1872 had created the possibility of a contested nomination, and Senator Henry Wilson defeated Colfax by 399.5 delegate votes to 321.5.[44] Grant went on to win election to a second term, and Wilson became the 18th vice-president of the United States.[44]

In September 1872, during the presidential campaign, Colfax's reputation was marred by a New York Sun article which indicated that he was involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. Colfax was one of several Representatives and Senators (mostly Republicans), who were offered (and possibly took) bribes of cash and discounted shares in the Union Pacific Railroad's Crédit Mobilier subsidiary in 1868 from Congressman Oakes Ames for votes favorable to the Union Pacific during the building of the First transcontinental railroad. Henry Wilson was among those accused, but after initially denying a connection, he provided a complicated explanation to a Senate investigating committee, which involved his wife having purchased shares with her own money, and then later canceling the transaction over concerns about its propriety. Wilson's reputation for integrity was somewhat dampened, but not enough to prevent him from becoming vice president.

Colfax was castigated for his involvement in the Crédit Mobilier scandal in this March 6, 1873, political cartoon in which Uncle Sam is shown encouraging Colfax to commit hara-kiri.

Colfax also denied involvement to the press, and defended himself in person before a House investigative committee, testifying in January 1873 that he had never received a dividend check from Ames.[5] Despite his protests of innocence, the congressional investigation revealed that in 1868 Colfax had taken a $1,200 gift check for 20 shares of Crédit Mobilier stock from Ames. Colfax had deposited $1,200 in his bank account at the same time Ames recorded that he had paid Colfax $1,200.[48] Making matters worse for Colfax, the investigation also revealed that Colfax had received a $4,000 gift also in 1868 from a contractor who supplied envelopes to the federal government while Colfax was chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, and so had influence in the awarding of such contracts.[49] Afterward, a resolution to impeach the vice president was introduced in the House, but failed to pass by a mostly party-line vote, mainly because the incidents took place during his tenure as congressman (not as vice president), and because just a few weeks remained in his term.[49]

His political career ruined, Colfax left office under a cloud at the end of his term, and never ran for office again.[43][49][50] His only consolation on that bitterly cold[51] March day was a hand-written letter from Ulysses Grant. In it, the president wrote,

I sympathize with you in the recent congressional investigations; that I have watched them closely, and that I am satisfied now as I have ever been of your integrity, patriotism and freedom from the charges imputed as if I knew of my own knowledge your innocence. Our official relations have been so pleasant that I would like to keep up the personal relations engendered, through life.[52]

After leaving office in March 1873, Colfax began to recover his reputation, embarking on a successful career as a traveling lecturer offering speeches on a variety of topics. His most requested presentation was one on the life of Abraham Lincoln, whom the nation had begun to turn into an icon. With an expanding population that desired to know more details and context about Lincoln's life and career, an oration from someone who had known him personally was an attraction audiences were willing to pay to hear, and Colfax delivered his Lincoln lecture hundreds of times to positive reviews.

In 1875, he became vice president of the Indiana Reaper and Iron Company.[53] On February 12, 1875, having returned to Washington, D.C., to give a lecture, he advised his friends in Congress who were frustrated over the slow pace of action: "Ah! the way to get out of politics is to get out of politics."[53]

He had remained popular in his home area, and was often encouraged to run again for public office, but he always declined. Finally, in April 1882, when pressed to consider becoming a candidate for his old U.S. House seat in the upcoming election, Colfax announced in a letter to the South Bend Tribune that, while he deeply appreciated how much his friends wanted him to run for public office again, he was satisfied by the 20 years of service he had given during the "stormiest years of our nation's history." He also said that he was enjoying his life as a private citizen, and would neither be a candidate nor accept any nomination for any office in the future, stating, "only ambition now is to go in and out among my townsmen as a private citizen during what years of life may remain for me to enjoy on this earth."[54]

Gravesite of Schuyler Colfax, in South Bend City Cemetery, South Bend, Indiana

On January 13, 1885, Colfax walked from Mankato, Minnesota's Front Street depot to the Omaha depot, about three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) in −30 °F (−34 °C) weather, intending to change trains on his way to Rock Rapids, Iowa, to give a speech.[55] Five minutes after arriving, Colfax died of a heart attack brought on by the extreme cold and exhaustion.[56]

He was buried at City Cemetery in South Bend.[57] A historical marker in Mankato's Washington Park, site of the former depot, marks the spot where he died.[58]

• Abbot, John S.C. (1864). The History of the Civil War in America. New York City: Henry Bill.
• Chernow, Ron (2017). Grant. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-5942-0487-6.
• MacDonald, William (1930). Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone (ed.). Dictionary of American Biography Colfax, Schuyler. New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Rossiter Johnson, ed. (1906). Biographical Dictionary of America Colfax, Schuyler. Boston, American Biographical Society.