Editing James S. Sherman

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1909 to 1912}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = James S. Sherman
| image               = James S. Sherman LCCN2008679450 (cropped).jpg 
| order              = 27th 
| office              = Vice President of the United States
| president           = [[William Howard Taft]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1909
| term_end            = October 30, 1912
| predecessor         = [[Charles W. Fairbanks]]
| successor           = [[Thomas R. Marshall]]
| office1             = Member of the<br>[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[New York (state)|New York]]
| constituency1       = {{ushr|NY|25|25th district}} (1893–1903)<br>{{ushr|NY|27|27th district}} (1903–09)
| term_start1         = March 4, 1893
| term_end1           = March 3, 1909
| predecessor1        = [[James J. Belden]]
| successor1          = [[Charles S. Millington]]
| constituency2       = {{ushr|NY|23|23rd district}}
| term_start2         = March 4, 1887
| term_end2           = March 3, 1891
| predecessor2        = [[John T. Spriggs]]
| successor2          = [[Henry Wilbur Bentley]]
| office3             = [[List of mayors of Utica, New York|Mayor of Utica, New York]]
| term_start3         = March 1884
| term_end3           = March 1885
| predecessor3        = [[John T. Spriggs]]
| successor3          = Thomas E. Kinney
| birth_name          = James Schoolcraft Sherman
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1855|10|24}}
| birth_place         = [[Utica, New York]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1912|10|30|1855|10|24}}
| death_place         = Utica, New York, U.S.
| resting_place        = [[Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York)|Forest Hill Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Carrie Babcock Sherman|Carrie Babcock]]|January 26, 1881}}
| children            = 3
| father              = [[Richard U. Sherman]]
| education           = [[Hamilton College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| signature           = James Schoolcraft Sherman Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| nickname            = Sunny Jim
| occupation          = {{hlist|Attorney|politician}}
| caption             = Sherman in 1909
}}
'''James Schoolcraft Sherman''' (October 24, 1855 – October 30, 1912) was the 27th [[vice president of the United States]], serving from 1909 until his death in 1912, under President [[William Howard Taft]]. A member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], Sherman was previously a [[United States representative]] from New York from 1887 to 1891 and 1893 to 1909. He was a member of the interrelated Baldwin, Hoar, and Sherman families, prominent lawyers and politicians of New England and New York.

Although not a high-powered administrator, he made a natural congressional committee chairman, and his genial personality eased the workings of the House, so that he was known as 'Sunny Jim'. He was the first vice president to fly in an [[airplane]] (1911),<ref>''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'', July 12, 1911</ref> and also the first to throw out the [[ceremonial first pitch]] at a [[baseball]] game.

Sherman was the seventh and most recent vice president to have died in office.

== Early life ==
Sherman was born in [[Utica, New York]], the son of [[Richard Updike Sherman]] and Mary Frances Sherman. According to Facts on File, "Sherman was of the ninth generation of descendants from Henry Sherman, a line also connected to [[Roger Sherman]], signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], and [[William Tecumseh Sherman]], the Union general during the Civil War".<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?SID%3D2%26NoSearch%3D1%26SingleRecord%3D%26iPin%3Dvpr027%26DatabaseName%3DAmerican+History+Online%26AmericanData%3D%26WomenData%3D%26IndianData%3D%26AFHCData%3D%26WorldData%3D%26AncientData%3D%26GovernmentData%3D | chapter=Sherman, James | title=Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary | publisher=Facts On File | access-date=September 27, 2020 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305194609/http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?SID=2&NoSearch=1&SingleRecord=&iPin=vpr027&DatabaseName=American%20History%20Online&AmericanData=&WomenData=&IndianData=&AFHCData=&WorldData=&AncientData=&GovernmentData= | archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> He was educated at [[Whitestown Seminary]], then attended [[Hamilton College (New York)|Hamilton College]], from which he received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1878.<ref>{{cite book|title=Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/vicepresidentsth00purc |url-access=limited |author=L. Edward Purcell |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |year=2010 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vicepresidentsth00purc/page/n266 260] |isbn=978-0-8160-7707-6}}</ref>{{efn|Sherman was a recipient of several [[honorary degree]]s, including [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]]s from Hamilton College (1903), [[Wesleyan University]] (1909), and the [[University of Pittsburgh]] (1909).}} At Hamilton, he was noted for his skills in oratory and debate.

After graduation, he remained at Hamilton for a year to study law, then continued [[reading law|his studies]] at the Utica office of Beardsley, Cookingham and Burdick, which included his brother in law Henry J. Cookingham as a partner. He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1880, and practiced with Cookingham in the firm of Cookingham & Martin. Sherman was also president of the Utica Trust & Deposit Co. and the New Hartford Canning Company. Sherman became active in politics as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and was elected chairman of the party in [[Oneida County, New York|Oneida County]].<ref>{{cite news |date=February 24, 1884 |title=Arranging for a Convention |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95829610/convention/ |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York, NY |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>  He became [[List of mayors of Utica, New York|mayor of Utica]] at age twenty-nine.<ref name="miller-center">{{cite web|last=Arnold|first=Peri|title=James S. Sherman|url=http://millercenter.org/president/taft/essays/vicepresident/1844|work=American President: An Online Reference Resource|publisher=University of Virginia|access-date=December 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217074320/http://millercenter.org/president/taft/essays/vicepresident/1844|archive-date=December 17, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 1881, he married [[Carrie Babcock Sherman|Carrie Babcock]] of East Orange, New Jersey, and they had three sons; Sherrill B. Sherman, Richard Updyke Sherman, and Thomas Moore Sherman.

== 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>

== Vice presidency (1909–1912) ==

At the suggestion of Senator [[Charles Curtis]] at the 1908 [[1908 United States presidential election#Republican Party nomination|Republican National Convention]], Sherman was nominated as the Republican candidate for vice president on the ticket with [[William Howard Taft]].<ref>
{{cite book
  | title = Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections
  | publisher = Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
  | year = 1984
  | location = Washington, DC
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/congressionalqua0000unse/page/73 73]
  | isbn = 0-87187-339-7
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/congressionalqua0000unse/page/73
  }}
</ref> Although not an obvious front-runner, he balanced the progressive Taft's profile, by being both an Easterner and a conservative (it was said that the two wings of the GOP 'flapped together'), and the New York delegates pressed hard for his nomination. The Republicans won by a comfortable margin.  At first, Sherman and Taft found themselves at odds over both tariff policy and the role of the Vice President. But as Taft became embattled with parts of the progressive faction of the Republican party, the two of them worked together more harmoniously  –  a relationship eased further by the [[Helen Taft|First Lady]]'s enjoyment of the company of Sherman and his wife. The President declared that Sherman accomplished much on Capitol Hill by his "charm of speech and manner, and his spirit of conciliation and compromise", backed by a "stubborn adherence" to his principles.

During the beginning of his term, Taft, who had been associated with progressives, had to deal with Speaker [[Joseph Gurney Cannon]] who was a part of the conservatives. Sherman, who had more experience in Congress, was expected to be a liaison for Taft with Cannon. “I am going to rely on you, Jim, to take care of Cannon for me. Whatever I have to do there will be done through you,” proposed Taft. Sherman replied, “Not through me. You will have to act on your own account. I am to be Vice President, and acting as a messenger boy is not part of the duties as Vice President.”

=== Re-nomination, illness, and death ===
From 1910, Taft had experienced several disagreements with ex-President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who formed his own [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Bull Moose]] party. This made re-election for the Republicans almost impossible, but Taft and Sherman campaigned on the same ticket in the [[1912 United States presidential election|1912 contest]], with New Yorkers once again supporting Sherman's nomination  –  the first time that a sitting vice president had been re-nominated since [[John C. Calhoun]] in [[1828 United States presidential election|1828]].

{{anchor|Death}}
Diagnosed with [[Bright's disease]] in 1904, Sherman's health was failing by the time of the 1912 campaign. Less than a week before the election, he died at home in Utica on October 30, six days after his 57th birthday, and President Taft was left with no running mate. [[Nicholas Murray Butler]] was designated to receive the electoral votes that Sherman would have received. Taft and Butler came in third place in the election, carrying only eight electoral votes from [[Utah]] and [[Vermont]]. Democratic candidate [[Woodrow Wilson]] and his running mate [[Thomas R. Marshall]] won the election while [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive candidate]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and his running mate [[Hiram Johnson]] came in second place. The vice presidency remained vacant until Marshall's inauguration on March 4, 1913.

Sherman was buried at [[Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York)|Forest Hill Cemetery]] in Utica.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110816326/thousands-paying-final-respects-to/ |title=Thousands Paying Final Respects to Sherman |date=1912-11-01 |newspaper=Buffalo Enquirer |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2022-10-06}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[1908 United States presidential election]]
* [[1912 United States presidential election]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|James Sherman}}
{{CongBio|S000345}}
* {{Find a Grave|2716|James Schoolcraft Sherman}}
* [http://www.footnote.com/image/4346755 16th Amendment to the Constitution with Sherman's Signature] Image of original document
* [http://www.footnote.com/image/4346715 17th Amendment to the Constitution with Sherman's Signature] Image of original document

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John T. Spriggs]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member from [[New York's 23rd congressional district]]|years=1887–1891}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Wilbur Bentley]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[James J. Belden]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member from [[New York's 25th congressional district]]|years=1893–1903}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lucius Littauer]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Michael E. Driscoll]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member from [[New York's 27th congressional district]]|years=1903–1909}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles S. Millington]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles W. Fairbanks]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets|nominee]] for Vice President of the United States|years=[[1908 United States presidential election|1908]], [[1912 United States presidential election|1912]] {{small|(Deceased)}}}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nicholas M. Butler]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Charles W. Fairbanks}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Vice President of the United States]]|years=1909–1912}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas R. Marshall]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{US Vice Presidents}}
{{Unsuccessful major party VPOTUS candidates}}
{{USRepVicePresNominees}}
{{United States presidential election, 1908}}
{{United States presidential election, 1912}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, James S.}}
[[Category:James S. Sherman| ]]
[[Category:1855 births]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:1908 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:1912 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Hamilton College (New York) alumni]]
[[Category:Mayors of Utica, New York]]
[[Category:New York (state) lawyers]]
[[Category:Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees]]
[[Category:Republican Party vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Vice presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Taft administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Sherman family (United States)]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York)]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in New York (state)]]