Joshua Chamberlain (September 8th 1828 - February 28th 1883) was an American military hero, politician, and twenty-first president of the United States from the state of Maine. His tumultuous terms in office oversaw the beginning of the
Second American Civil War, and he was the second US president to be assassinated.
A noted scholar and professor at
Bowdoin College, Chamberlain led a regiment of Maine volunteers during the
First American Civil War, where his quick thinking stabilized the US lines during the
Battle of Rock Creek, single-handedly saving Washington, DC from capture by the Confederates. For that, he received national fame as the Lion of Bowdoin and the Lion of Rock Creek, and was acclaimed as the
Savior of the Republic by President John J Crittenden once the conflict ended. At first going back to his job as a professor, he entered politics as a Unionist-Republican and served four terms as the
32nd Governor of Maine. Appointed to the US Senate by the Maine Legislature after his governorship ended, he became close friends with fellow congressmen
Ely S Parker and
Oliver Morton, and was an outspoken advocate of continued opposition to the Confederate States. He was chosen by Morton to be his running mate in the
1876 US Presidential election on account of his nationwide popularity, and together they won a decisive victory over their opponents of Steven Douglas, Thomas Hendricks, Daniel Sickles, and symbolic candidate Frederick Douglass.
After seven months in office, Oliver Morton died of complications from a stroke, elevating Chamberlain to the Presidency. His time in office is notable for his mostly successful efforts to deal with the
Third Period of the Long Depression as well as his persistent efforts to aid the
Haitian Resistance against the occupying Confederate States. He helped to sponsor and pass the
21st Amendment in response to the United Kingdom granting symbolic baronies to notable Confederate leaders, and continued the modernization and strengthening of the United States Army in preparation for an inevitable conflict with the Confederate States. However, his successful navigation and defusing of a potential crisis concerning the
Rio Bravo War spiked his popularity in time for the
1880 US Presidential election, which he handily won against the ultimately ineffective campaigning of Samuel Randall. His choice of Ely S Parker as his running mate sparked intense controversy, however, for Parker, being a
Tonawanda Seneca, was not technically a US citizen. His choice of Parker (a well known orator and diplomat) over other recommended options is a testament to his strong friendship with Parker and the need to curry favor with dissident groups in the crumbling Confederate States, notably the
United Tribes of Sequoyah.
The outbreak of the
Confederate Civil War over the contested results of the
1882 CS Presidential election gave Chamberlain the perfect opportunity to reunify the nation. Acting on long prepared plans developed by American strategists like Ulysses S Grant and William T Sherman, US forces made rapid progress into Confederate territory with the aid of
Blue Coalition supporters and activists. Chamberlain would not live to see the end of the war, however, for Confederate assassin
John Wilkes Booth shot and killed Chamberlain while he was visiting US lines in Northern Virginia.
Chamberlain is well regarded among presidents for being a popular national hero through his actions in both Civil Wars and his forward-thinking approach towards minority groups in the US, in addition to the broad sympathy gained through his assassination. Speculation as to what could have happened had Chamberlain lived is a popular topic among
speculative historians to this day.
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Ely Samuel Parker (1828 - August 31 1900), born
Hasanoanda, later known as
Donehogawa, was a Tonawanda Seneca engineer, tribal diplomat, politician, and twenty-second president of the United States from the state of New York. He consistently holds very high positions in historical rankings of US presidents, and is commonly known by his presidential nickname of the
Great Reunifier.
Born in 1828 (his exact date of birth is still a contentious question amongst historians), he first studied law for three years as a young man but was unable to take the bar examination due to, as a Tonawanda Seneca, he was not considered a US citizen. A chance meeting with anthropologist
Lewis Henry Morgan allowed Parker to gain the opportunity to study engineering at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, after which he juggled the roles of being an engineer and being a diplomat and interpreter for Seneca chiefs in their ongoing negations with the US government (he was fully bilingual in the Seneca language and English). During this time he became strong friends with
Ulysses S Grant while working on government projects in Illinois, one of many notable friendships Parker accrued over his life.
When the
First American Civil War broke out, Parker proposed to raise a regiment of Iroquois volunteers to fight for the United States, a proposal that was accepted by
John C Breckinridge in one of his last acts in office in a vain attempt to foment dissent within the United States. Arriving too late to the frontlines to fight in the First American Civil War, the unit was sent westwards to serve in the
American Frontier Wars, where Parker made a name for himself through his careful diplomacy and level-headed nature that defused many a conflict and earned him the great admiration of his friend and now supervisor Ulysses S Grant.
Charles Francis Adams, upon recommendation from Grant, appointed Parker to be the head of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the first First Nation person to hold the role. His long and successful tenure in that role gave him widespread national attention, and he was nominated for and elected to a seat in the US House of Representatives by proud members of his home constituency in New York, according to popular legend, without his knowledge. He served with distinction for three terms in the House, making friends with fellow congressman
Joshua Chamberlain, who later chose Parker as his running mate for the 1880 US Presidential election. Despite not being considered a US citizen at the time, powerful oration from
Frederick Douglass, Chamberlain, Grant, and other noted Unionist-Republican leaders all but secured Parker's place as Vice President, where he took a prominent role in negotiating with the
United Tribes of Sequoyah to gain their defection at the start of the
Second American Civil War.
Chamberlain's assassination in 1883 brought Parker to the Presidency, though a special declaration by Congress was necessary to officially grant Parker the required citizenship to assume the position. Had it been anytime other than in the midst of the Second American Civil War, it is doubtful that such a declaration would have been passed, even with Parker's accomplishments. Major US victories in the war assured Parker's reelection in 1884, who controversially ran in order to maintain a continuity of government throughout the war. His choice of
James Blaine as his running mate was a well-regarded one, and his victory over
William Rosecrans was at a comfortable margin.
Parker's achievements post-1884 are his most famous. He won the Second American Civil War, reunified the nation, passed the
22nd,
23rd, and
24th Amendments, and began the
American Conquest of the Southwest. He gave all First Nation peoples US citizenship and radically redefined the relationship of the US government with minority groups, most notably with the creation of state designations of
free states (initially for freed blacks in the South) and
reserved states (initially for First Nation peoples mainly out west). His efforts dealing with the
Fourth Period of the Long Depression didn't quite work out during his term, but things were certainly improving by the time he left office.
After leaving the presidency, Parker enjoyed some quiet time with his family before being appointed by the New York Legislature to the US Senate, where he served for one term. As one of the few former presidents to take political office after his time as president, Congress struggled with what honors to give him, a debate only resolved long after he had finished his term. He died three years after leaving office, surrounded by his family at his home, and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York, next to his ancestor
Red Jacket and near to the 11th US President
Millard Fillmore.
