Difference between revisions of "William B. Allison"
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Allison, who at the time did not own a house of his own, shared a room with Iowa Sen. James W. Grimes.<ref name=bio/> A major difference between the two emerged when Allison voted to impeach Johnson while Grimes in the Senate opposed conviction. Despite such, the congressional pair's relationship did not sever.<ref name=bio/> | Allison, who at the time did not own a house of his own, shared a room with Iowa Sen. James W. Grimes.<ref name=bio/> A major difference between the two emerged when Allison voted to impeach Johnson while Grimes in the Senate opposed conviction. Despite such, the congressional pair's relationship did not sever.<ref name=bio/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===U.S. Senate=== | ||
| + | Allison ran for [[United States Senate]] in the 1870 midterms to succeed Grimes, though lost the primary to James B. Howell, a member of the opposing party faction.<ref name=bio/> However, he rebounded politically in the following 1872 elections, obtaining the Republican nomination for the race pertaining to Iowa's other Senate seat and winning the general election uncontested.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=391317 IA US Senate Race - Jan 18, 1872]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved November 21, 2021.</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 19:32, November 21, 2021
| William Boyd Allison | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Senator from Iowa From: March 4, 1873 – August 4, 1908 | |||
| Predecessor | James Harlan | ||
| Successor | Albert B. Cummins | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd Congressional District From: March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1871 | |||
| Predecessor | (none, district established) | ||
| Successor | William G. Donnan | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Whig (until 1850s) Know Nothing (until 1856) Republican (since 1856) | ||
| Spouse(s) | Anna Carter (died 1859) Mary Nealley (died 1883) | ||
| Religion | Presbyterian | ||
William Boyd Allison (March 2, 1829 – August 4, 1908), sometimes referred to as W. B. Allison, was a Republican from northeastern Iowa who represented the state's 3rd congressional district for four terms and served from the Class III Senate seat from 1873 until his death in 1908.
Background
Allison was born near Ashland, Ohio to John Allison and the former Margaret Williams. Shaped in his youth by Presbyterian faith, involvement in Whig politics, and pursuing success, he moved to Pennsylvania with his family at one point.[1]
In 1854, Allison married the former Anna Carter, who was among the wealthy residents of Ashland.[1] After she died five years later, he would later wed a second time in 1873, marrying Mary Nealley.
Political career
While in Ohio, Allison's rise in politics coincided during a period of time where the Whig Party was facing collapse due to internal divisions over slavery. An abolitionist and supporter of business interests, he served in conventions to the newly formed Republican Party as well as the Know Nothing Party.[1]
Although serving in the 1856 Know Nothing national convention, Allison left the party and joined the Republicans.[1] Following an unsuccessful bid for county attorney, he moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where his older brother resided. Although the city was a stronghold for the Democratic Party at the time, Allison's ties with a law partnership and a Presbyterian church proved to successfully propel him into the state GOP leadership.[1]
Rise into national politics, House tenure
During the 1860 presidential election, Allison was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. He campaigned heavily for party nominees on both the national and state level during the election cycle, and would be appointed by Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood as a military aide a year later with the outbreak of the Civil War.[1]
The Census of 1860 led to an increase in Iowa's congressional district seats from two to six. In the 1862 midterms, Allison ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from the third district which included Dubuque, challenging incumbent Republican congressman William Vandever.[1] Benefiting from connections to Kirkwood in addition to railroad interests, he denied Vandever renomination and won the general election.[2]
In the House, Allison sided with the powerful Radical Republican wing of the party which frequently opposed President Lincoln's policies as being too moderate,[1] instead favoring a harsher treatment of the Confederacy. After being re-elected in 1864,[3] he was a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, in addition to emerging as a leading expert on protective tariffs and railroads.[1]
The Radical Republicans were not unified on ideological issues aside from their advocacy of harsher Reconstruction policies to ensure and safeguard the constitutional rights of blacks. Indeed, Allison broke from the factions' more staunchly conservative members in maintaining a moderate stance on tariff policy.[1] However, he strongly represented railroad interests, on which he was accused of conflicts of interests.
Allison and Grimes split over Johnson impeachment
President Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee Democrat who assumed the presidency following the assassination of Lincoln, angered congressional Republicans by pushing for lenient Reconstruction policies. After violating the Tenure of Office Act, an impeachment resolution was spearheaded by Radical Republicans against him.
Allison, who at the time did not own a house of his own, shared a room with Iowa Sen. James W. Grimes.[1] A major difference between the two emerged when Allison voted to impeach Johnson while Grimes in the Senate opposed conviction. Despite such, the congressional pair's relationship did not sever.[1]
U.S. Senate
Allison ran for United States Senate in the 1870 midterms to succeed Grimes, though lost the primary to James B. Howell, a member of the opposing party faction.[1] However, he rebounded politically in the following 1872 elections, obtaining the Republican nomination for the race pertaining to Iowa's other Senate seat and winning the general election uncontested.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Allison, William Boyd. The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ↑ IA - District 03 Race - Oct 14, 1862. Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ↑ IA - District 03 Race - Nov 08, 1864. Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- ↑ IA US Senate Race - Jan 18, 1872. Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 21, 2021.