Editing Thomas A. Hendricks (section)

===Land office commissioner===
In 1855 President [[Franklin Pierce]] appointed Hendricks as commissioner of the [[United States General Land Office]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}}{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}} His job supervising 180 clerks and a four-year backlog of work was a demanding one, especially at a time when westward expansion meant that the government was going through one of its largest periods of land sales.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=162}} During his tenure, the land office issued 400,000 land patents and settled 20,000 disputed land cases. Although Hendricks made thousands of decisions related to disputed land claims, only a few were reversed in court,{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=127–28}} but he did receive some criticism: "He was the first commissioner who apparently had no background or qualifications for the job. ... Some of the rulings and letters during Hendricks's tenure were not always correct."<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the Rectangular Survey System | author=C. Albert White, [[Bureau of Land Management]] | year=1983 |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] |page=119 | isbn=9780160335044 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-BcVn3VhPQC&q=Hendricks&pg=PA119}}</ref>

Hendricks resigned as land office commissioner in 1859 and returned to Shelby County, Indiana.{{sfn|Memorial|p=21}} The cause of his departure was not recorded, but potential reasons may have been differences of opinion with President [[James Buchanan]], Pierce's successor. Hendricks resisted Buchanan's efforts to make land office clerks patronage positions, objected to the pro-slavery policies of the Buchanan administration, and supported the [[Homestead Acts|homestead bill]], which Buchanan opposed.{{sfn|Gray|1977|pp=128–29}}