Thomas Hendricks

Thomas Andrews Hendricks was an Indiana lawyer and Democratic politician who served in the Indiana legislature, represented Indiana in both houses of Congress, served as governor of Indiana, and finally became the twenty-first person to serve as vice president. He was one of the most prominent Democrats in the Midwest during the period following the Civil War and became Grover Cleveland's running mate in the presidential election of 1884. His vice presidency lasted only eight months because he died suddenly in office.

Hendricks was born on September 7, 1819, in what is now Muscatatuck, Indiana. His family was politically active and moved to Shelby County while he was young. He attended Hanover College, graduating in 1841, and subsequently studied law. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1843 and established a successful legal practice in Shelbyville.

Hendricks entered politics as a Democrat and served in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1848. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1851 and served there until 1855. He then represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate from 1863 to 1869. During the Civil War, Hendricks opposed many Republican wartime measures and became associated with the Democratic opposition to the Lincoln administration, although he supported preservation of the Union.

After returning to Indiana, Hendricks became governor in 1873 and served until 1877. He became one of the leading national figures in the Democratic Party and was the party's vice-presidential nominee alongside Samuel Tilden in 1876. Tilden and Hendricks received a majority of the popular vote but did not receive enough uncontested electoral votes to secure the presidency. In 1884, Democrats nominated Hendricks for vice president alongside Grover Cleveland. They won the election, and Hendricks took office on March 4, 1885.

He died suddenly at his home in Indianapolis on November 25, 1885, only eight months after taking office. His death left Cleveland without a vice president for the remainder of his first term because the Constitution and federal law at the time provided no mechanism for filling a vacant vice presidency.

Hendricks's legacy rests primarily on his long career as an Indiana and national Democratic leader. He was one of the most prominent Democratic opponents of Republican Reconstruction-era policies and was twice placed on a national Democratic ticket. His unusually brief vice presidency also illustrates the constitutional gap that existed before the adoption of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment regarding vacancies in the vice presidency.