Veeps: Charles Fairbanks
This month's project on Vice Presidents reminds me of the scene in the movie Major League where people are looking at the list of players invited to spring training for the Cleveland Indians and saying (in more colorful language) "who are these guys?" Charles Fairbanks is another Vice-President that inspires that reaction, though in fairness to Fairbanks, being Theodore Roosevelt's veep would make it easy for people to not notice you next to the very noticeable TR.
Charles Warren Fairbanks was born on May 11, 1852, apparently in a log cabin near Delaware, Ohio. (Rutherford Hayes was also born in Delaware, Ohio thirty years before Fairbanks. His father was a wagon-maker who permitted the family home to be used as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Fairbanks attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where he graduated in 1872. While there, Fairbanks was co-editor of the school newspaper with a woman named Cornelia Cole. He became smitten with his co-editor and married her after both graduated from Wesleyan.
Fairbanks' was an agent of the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he reported on political events for Horace Greeley during the 1872 presidential election. Fairbanks moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he briefly attended law school before being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1874. He then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, later that year. There he managed the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railroad. He also served as counsel for millionaire Jay Gould. In 1888 federal judge Walter Q. Gresham sought Fairbanks's help in seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. President. This spurred Fairbanks' interest in politics, and he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1893. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1896, after delivered the keynote address at the Republican convention that nominated William McKinley for President earlier that year.
During his eight years in the U.S. Senate, Fairbanks served as a key adviser to McKinley. He was also the Chairman of the Committee on Immigration and the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. In 1898, Fairbanks was appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission which met in Quebec City to resolve a boundary dispute about Alaska.
In 1900, following the death of Vice President Garret Hobart, McKinley's political advisor Mark Hanna offered Fairbanks the number two spot on the ticket, but Fairbanks decided to remain in the senate. The spot was then offered to Theodore Roosevelt. When McKinley was assassinated in September of 1901, Roosevelt became president.
In 1904 Fairbanks was chosen as the Republican candidate for Vice President on a ticket with Theodore Roosevelt. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1904 and served the full term. Roosevelt had written that since there was always a chance of the Vice President might have to succeed the President (as he had), it made sense to "increase the power of the Vice President". But in practice, Roosevelt had little use for Fairbanks. According to one anecdote, once when a chandelier in the White House was in need of repair, TR supposedly said to a White House butler "take it to the Vice President, he needs something to keep him awake."
Fairbanks sought the Republican nomination for President in 1908 but Roosevelt, who chose not to seek reelection, supported William Howard Taft as his potential successor. Fairbanks returned to the practice of law. In 1912, Fairbanks supported Taft's re-election against Roosevelt's Bull Moose candidacy.
In 1916, Fairbanks sought the Republican presidential nomination, and although he failed in that bid, he did win the nomination for vice president as the running-mate of Charles Evans Hughes on June 10. In his second attempt at election to the Vice Presidency the ticket of Hughes and Fairbanks lost a close election to the Democratic incumbents Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall. As of 2012, he is the last former Vice President to seek reelection for a non-consecutive term. (I'm sure you all remember that Adlai Stevenson did the same thing previously).
After the 1916 election, Fairbanks returned to the practice of law in Indianapolis, but his health started to fail. He died of nephritis, a kidney ailment, at his home in Indianapolis on June 4, 1918. He was interred in Crown Hill Cemetery, the same place as former President and prominent Hoosier Benjamin Harrison. The city of Fairbanks, Alaska is named after him.
Charles Warren Fairbanks was born on May 11, 1852, apparently in a log cabin near Delaware, Ohio. (Rutherford Hayes was also born in Delaware, Ohio thirty years before Fairbanks. His father was a wagon-maker who permitted the family home to be used as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Fairbanks attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where he graduated in 1872. While there, Fairbanks was co-editor of the school newspaper with a woman named Cornelia Cole. He became smitten with his co-editor and married her after both graduated from Wesleyan.
Fairbanks' was an agent of the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he reported on political events for Horace Greeley during the 1872 presidential election. Fairbanks moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he briefly attended law school before being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1874. He then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, later that year. There he managed the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railroad. He also served as counsel for millionaire Jay Gould. In 1888 federal judge Walter Q. Gresham sought Fairbanks's help in seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. President. This spurred Fairbanks' interest in politics, and he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1893. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1896, after delivered the keynote address at the Republican convention that nominated William McKinley for President earlier that year.
During his eight years in the U.S. Senate, Fairbanks served as a key adviser to McKinley. He was also the Chairman of the Committee on Immigration and the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. In 1898, Fairbanks was appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission which met in Quebec City to resolve a boundary dispute about Alaska.
In 1900, following the death of Vice President Garret Hobart, McKinley's political advisor Mark Hanna offered Fairbanks the number two spot on the ticket, but Fairbanks decided to remain in the senate. The spot was then offered to Theodore Roosevelt. When McKinley was assassinated in September of 1901, Roosevelt became president.
In 1904 Fairbanks was chosen as the Republican candidate for Vice President on a ticket with Theodore Roosevelt. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1904 and served the full term. Roosevelt had written that since there was always a chance of the Vice President might have to succeed the President (as he had), it made sense to "increase the power of the Vice President". But in practice, Roosevelt had little use for Fairbanks. According to one anecdote, once when a chandelier in the White House was in need of repair, TR supposedly said to a White House butler "take it to the Vice President, he needs something to keep him awake."
Fairbanks sought the Republican nomination for President in 1908 but Roosevelt, who chose not to seek reelection, supported William Howard Taft as his potential successor. Fairbanks returned to the practice of law. In 1912, Fairbanks supported Taft's re-election against Roosevelt's Bull Moose candidacy.
In 1916, Fairbanks sought the Republican presidential nomination, and although he failed in that bid, he did win the nomination for vice president as the running-mate of Charles Evans Hughes on June 10. In his second attempt at election to the Vice Presidency the ticket of Hughes and Fairbanks lost a close election to the Democratic incumbents Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall. As of 2012, he is the last former Vice President to seek reelection for a non-consecutive term. (I'm sure you all remember that Adlai Stevenson did the same thing previously).
After the 1916 election, Fairbanks returned to the practice of law in Indianapolis, but his health started to fail. He died of nephritis, a kidney ailment, at his home in Indianapolis on June 4, 1918. He was interred in Crown Hill Cemetery, the same place as former President and prominent Hoosier Benjamin Harrison. The city of Fairbanks, Alaska is named after him.