Passed Vice Presidents - # 21 – Thomas Hendricks

Grave of Thomas Hendricks (22 October 2006)

Served under Grover Cleveland

4 March 1885 – 25 November 1885 (died in office)

Preceded by # 20 – Chester A. Arthur

Succeeded by # 22 – Levi Morton

Born – 7 September1819

Died – 25 November 1885 (age 66)

Buried – Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, IN

Date Visited – 22 October 2006

Since we recently paid our respects to VP # 17, Schuyler Colfax, it seems appropriate to dwell on the Hoosier State since it has been called the ‘Mother of Vice Presidents.’ Of the forty-nine people who have held the position, six came from Indiana. Only New York, with eleven, has more. Maybe the wittiest of our VP’s, Thomas Marshall, commented on his state’s contribution by saying, “Indiana is known as the ‘mother of vice presidents’ because it is “home of more second-class men than any other state.” More on him soon.

Between 1868 and 1913, four vice president candidates from Indiana were elected. In that time period, Indiana’s only president, Benjamin Harrison, was also elected (in 1888). At the time, the state was too important in electoral count strategies to be ignored.

Indiana was such a steady source of VP candidates that the record will show another FIVE more Indiana guys during that same period were on losing tickets…not that I will ever consider chasing down those graves, thank you.

Thomas A. Hendricks

The 21st Vice President of the United States

Compared to many vice presidents, Thomas Hendricks was quite accomplished. He rose through local and state politics to become Indiana’s governor. He served in the U.S. House and Senate and was the VP on the losing ticket when Rutherford B. Hayes beat Samuel Tilden in the controversial election of 1876. The Tilden/Hendricks ticket won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote…by a single point.

I visited Indianapolis on a beautiful fall day. Crown Hill Cemetery is the Cadillac burial ground in the city…the place where all the old movers and shakers currently reside. I went there to visit president # 23, Benjamin Harrison. At least I had the foresight to find the three vice presidents who also rest beneath these magnificent trees.

Autumn in Crown Hill Cemetery,

Indianapolis (22 October 2006)

At the time, I was retired a little over a year

and enjoyed cruising the country in a new ride.

Thomas Hendricks is one of seven vice presidents who died on the job. After only eight months in office, he returned home to Indianapolis, said he didn’t feel well, and died overnight in his sleep. He was 66 years old.

Indicative of the importance of the position, deceased VP vacancies in the past were not filled. Nor were the openings created when nine VP’s replaced deceased (or resigned in disgrace e.g. Nixon) presidents. Our vice-presidential timeline has almost 38 years of empty space…twenty percent of our history as a nation.

That situation was resolved when the 25th Amendment was adopted in 1967. Now, we take that ‘One-heartbeat-away-from-the-presidency’ thing more seriously. The spots are still often filled by lightweights but you never know. As Harry Truman proved, some people can rise to the occasion.