Editing James S. Sherman (section)

== Old-guard conservative in Congress ==
{{Multiple image
| header = Sherman in life and death
| align = right
| direction = 
| total_width = 300
| perrow = 2/2
| image1= James Sherman, Bain bw photo portrait facing left.jpg
| caption1 = Undated photo by [[George Grantham Bain]]
| image2= James Schoolcraft Sherman.jpg
| caption2 = Sherman during his vice presidency
| image3 = Utica - Sherman funeral LCCN2014690744.jpg
| caption3 = Mourners attend Sherman's funeral in Utica, 1912
| image4 = BustJamesSSherman.jpg
| caption4 = Bust of Sherman by [[Bessie Potter Vonnoh]], 1911
}}
In 1886, Sherman was elected U.S. Representative from New York's 23rd congressional district as a Republican, and he served 20 years in the House (four years, followed by a two-year break and 16 more years).<ref>
{{cite book
  | title = Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections
  | publisher = Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
  | year = 1984
  | location = Washington, DC
  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/congressionalqua0000unse/page/812 812, 816, 820, 825]
  | isbn = 0-87187-339-7
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/congressionalqua0000unse/page/812
  }}
</ref>
At a time when the Republican Party was divided over protective tariffs, Sherman sided with [[William McKinley]] and the conservative branch, defending the gold standard against the potentially inflationary 'free silver'.

During his House career, Sherman served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Natural Resources|Committee on Indian Affairs]] from the [[54th United States Congress|54th]] through the [[60th United States Congress|60th]] Congresses (1895 to 1909).

As Sherman had never held a party leadership post or been a chairman of a major committee such as [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|Ways and Means]] or [[United States House Committee on Appropriations|Appropriations]], he was considered sufficiently neutral to frequently be appointed chairman of the [[Committee of the whole#United States|Committee of the Whole]]— a crucial device for speeding up the passage of bills by suspending certain rules at the discretion of the chairman. [[Henry Cabot Lodge]] recognized this job as a major test of integrity and judgment, and declared that Sherman was supremely fitted for it.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171210032512/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/james_sherman.pdf James S. Sherman] U.S. Senate.</ref> Through Sherman's efforts in 1900, the [[Sherman Indian High School]] in [[Riverside, California]] was built and named after him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shermanindianmuseum.org/sherman_hist.htm|title=Sherman Indian Museum.org: Sherman Indian High School History|website=shermanindianmuseum.org appraisal|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115113225/http://shermanindianmuseum.org/sherman_hist.htm|archive-date=November 15, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref>