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{{Officeholder
{{Officeholder
|name=Levi P. Morton
|name=Levi Parsons “L. P.” Morton
|image=Levi morton.jpg
|image=Levi morton.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Anna Livingston Reade
|spouse=Lucy Young Kimball (died 1871)<br>Anna Livingston Reade Street (died 1918)
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|offices=
|offices=
}}
}}
}}
}}
'''Levi P. Morton''' '''(1824 - 1920)''' was [[Benjamin Harrison]]'s [[vice president]] from 1884 to 1888.
His father was a [[Congregationalist]] minister.
'''Levi Parsons Morton''' (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920), also known as '''L. P. Morton''',<ref name=ussenatebio>[https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/morton-levi.htm About the Vice President | Levi Parsons Morton, 22nd Vice President (1889-1893)]. ''United States Senate''. Retrieved November 11, 2021.</ref> was a U.S. representative from [[New York]] who served as [[Benjamin Harrison]]'s [[vice president]] from 1884 to 1888. Originally aligned with the [[Stalwart]] wing of the [[Republican Party]] as a strong pro-business conservative, he later betrayed the party's priorities by doing little to advance [[anti-lynching legislation]] in addition to supporting [[civil service system|civil service reform]].<ref name=ussenatebio/>
==Background==
Morton was born in [[Vermont]] to Daniel Oliver Morton and the former Lucretia Parsons. He was named after his uncle, the first missionary from the U.S. to Palestine.<ref name=ussenatebio/> His father was a [[Congregationalist]] minister. During Morton's youth, his family's poverty proved to be a hindrance to his hopes for entering college, though an older brother assured him:<ref name=ussenatebio/>
{{cquote|...a self-taught man is worth two of your college boys.}}
==Political career==
During the 1870s, Morton was part of the Republican "Stalwarts" led by [[New York]] senator [[Roscoe Conkling]],<ref name=ussenatebio/> a [[Radical Republican]] who fiercely opposed civil service reform that would replace the [[spoils system]] the GOP utilized to safeguard constitutional rights of blacks.
===U.S. House of Representatives===
Following an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1876 against incumbent [[Tammany Hall|Tammany Machine]]-aligned Democrat Benjamin A. Willis,<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=451382 NY District 11 Race - Nov 07, 1876]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 11, 2021.</ref> he successfully defeated Willis in the 1878 midterms by a landslide<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=451389 NY District 11 Race - Nov 05, 1878]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 11, 2021.</ref> and would be re-elected in 1880.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=452057 NY District 11 Race - Nov 02, 1880]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 11, 2021.</ref>
In the House, Morton viewed his own interests as no different from that of his constituents.<ref name=ussenatebio/> A newspaper reporter described him as:
{{cquote|...not a loquacious man, and yet an interesting talker, and one of the pleasantest expressions of his face is that of the respectful, intelligent listener.|||George Alfred Townsend}}
Morton was also considerably wealthier than most colleagues, and he also became friends with future president [[James A. Garfield]] during his House years.<ref name=ussenatebio/>
====Conkling machine, declining vice presidential nomination====
During the [[United States presidential election, 1880|1880 presidential election]], Morton served as a lieutenant to Sen. Conkling and his machine, which supported a third term for Radical Republican [[Ulysses S. Grant]] over the nomination of [[Half-Breed]] Sen. [[James G. Blaine]].<ref name=ussenatebio/> The Half-Breeds ultimately successfully pushed for the dark-house candidate James Garfield for the party nomination.
Garfield attempted to unite the Conkling and Blaine factions as a gesture of party unity vowing to support the Stalwarts' patronage.<ref name=ussenatebio/> When approached by Morton about potentially being on the party ticket as Garfield's vice presidential pick, Conkling declined, and the New York representative's similar subsequent turning down of the idea led to Stalwart [[Chester A. Arthur]] being handed the position.<ref name=ussenatebio/>
===Garfield's betrayal===
Although promising to back the demands of the Conkling Stalwarts including Morton during his campaign, President Garfield turned his back on party conservatives when appointing Half-Breed William Robertson as New York port of the collector.<ref name=ussenatebio/>
An angered Conkling and his New York senatorial colleague Thomas C. "Tom" Platt effectively resigned from their positions as a gesture of protest while expecting to be immediately reinstated to their positions, only to be shunned by the state legislature.<ref name=ussenatebio/> Morton was absent during this period for some time, sailing for [[France]]. When returning to the United States, Garfield had been assassinated by a disgruntled Stalwart.
===Morton supports Half-Breed Blaine for president===
During the Republican primaries in the [[United States presidential election, 1884|1884 presidential election]], Morton along with Thomas C. Platt supported Half-Breed leader James G. Blaine, who became the GOP nominee.<ref name=ussenatebio/> Blaine's campaign was derailed when a supporting Protestant minister at a dinner called the Democrats the party of:
{{cquote|...rum, Romanism, and rebellion.}}
Democrats, seizing on the remark, riled up Irish voters, and Blaine ultimately lost New York in his election defeat to [[Bourbon Democrat]][[Grover Cleveland]].<ref name=ussenatebio/>
===Vice presidency===
Blaine did not seek the presidency in the following [[United States presidential election, 1888|1888 race]] due to declining health, prompting Platt to support the nomination of [[Benjamin Harrison]], a U.S. senator from [[Indiana]].<ref name=ussenatebio/> The former Maine senator supported William W. Phelps for vice president, though Platt gave support to Morton, who was nominated for the party ticket.<ref name=ussenatebio/> The Harrison/Morton ticket successfully denied President Cleveland a second consecutive term.<ref group=note>Cleveland served for a second term, though non-consecutively and being the only president to have done so.</ref>
====Morton turns his back on the Lodge Bill====
President Harrison, a staunch supporter of [[civil rights]], adamantly backed measures to protect black voting rights in [[the South]], where [[Democrat election fraud]] and [[voter suppression]] tactics were prevalent. Conservative Republican senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr.]] of [[Massachusetts]] subsequently introduced the Lodge Bill (also known as the Force Bill) aimed at safeguarding constitutional rights of blacks.<ref name=ussenatebio/>
The Lodge Bill narrowly passed the House and faced opposition in the Senate from [[Jim Crow]] Democrats who started a filibuster. Although Vice President Morton, who presided over the Senate, ensured it reached the floor by providing the crucial tie-breaking vote, it faced another blockade.<ref name=ussenatebio/> Morton then did nothing to push for its Senate passage as liberal, opportunist, pro-inflation Western [[Silver Republican Party|Silver Republicans]] sought Southern support for their [[populist]] causes by opposing the Lodge Bill.<ref name=ussenatebio/>
Republican senators concerned with the plight of Southern blacks pleaded with the stubborn, entrenched Morton to vacate his position for another GOP member to preside over the Senate in hopes of passing the Lodge Bill.<ref name=ussenatebio/> Morton stubbornly refused to even temporarily vacate and insisted that his role was to maintain a neutral stance when presiding. Sen. George F. Hoar retorted that the vice president:<ref name=ussenatebio/>
{{cquote|...asserted their authority with as little show of force as if they were presiding over a company of guests at their own table.}}
The Lodge Bill was ultimately killed when the U.S. Senate on a 35–34 vote passed a resolution substituting it with separate legislation.<ref name=ussenatebio/> President Harrison did not forgive Morton for the latter's blatant inaction, and the New York Republican was not selected for renomination on the Republican ticket in the [[United States presidential election, 1892|1892 presidential election]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
===notes===
{{reflist1904|group=note}}
==External links==
*[https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=M001018 Profile] at the ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
*[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2432/levi-parsons-morton Profile] at ''Find a Grave
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Levi P.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Levi P.}}
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Vermont]]
[[Category:Children of Clergy]]
[[Category:Children of Clergy]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:Vice Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Congregationalists]]
[[Category:Congregationalists]]