Roscoe Conkling

New York Stalwart leader who made senatorial patronage a weapon, then quit the Senate over it.

Overview

Conkling, dashing and athletic, served in the House from 1859 to 1867 and the Senate from 1867 to 1881, where he ran the New York Republican machine through the custom house, controlled federal nominations, and largely dictated his party's course. When President Garfield named a rival collector of the port of New York in 1881, Conkling resigned in protest expecting vindication, but the legislature repudiated him, ending his career. He had earlier declined a Supreme Court seat confirmed in 1873, judging the bench a comedown from Senate power. He died in 1888 after exposure in the great blizzard.