Passed Vice Presidents - # 26 – Charles W. Fairbanks

  

Grave of Charles W. Fairbanks (22 October 2006)

Served under Theodore Roosevelt

4 March 1905 – 4 March 1909

Preceded by # 25 – Theodore Roosevelt

Succeeded by # 27 – James S. Sherman

Born – 11 May 1852

Died – 4 June 1918 (age 66)

Buried – Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, IN

Date Visited – 22 October 2006

So, here’s a tableau that shows that being vice president is not always a ticket to oblivion. President William McKinley wins the 1896 election and after our victory in the Spanish-American War, the U.S. is emerging as world power and the president is very popular. However, his VP, Garret Hobart, died in office. Of course, he is not replaced right away but McKinley needs a new running mate for his second term in 1900. Who better than the young, energetic war hero from New York, the state with the most Electoral College votes? Teddy Roosevelt viewed the position as “not a steppingstone to anything except oblivion” but accepted the job…and six months later, boom, McKinley was shot dead and Roosevelt was president.

Of course, he made no attempt to name his own VP at the time but, like his predecessor, was very popular and needed a running mate when he ran for re-election in 1904. Enter Indiana Senator Charles Fairbanks.
   

Charles W. Fairbanks with President Theodore Roosevelt

at his Sagamore Hill residence in 1904

In the days before citizen voters elected the two U. S. senators from each state, the state legislatures would appoint them. Fairbanks did such a fine job of helping to elect Republican majorities in the Indiana legislature, they returned the favor by naming him the state’s senator in 1896. Since presidential candidates seem to covet Indiana running mates, Teddy brought him onboard.
   

Entrance to Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis (22 October 2006)

I guess that electoral vote thing went only so far because once in office, Fairbanks opposed some of Teddy’s progressive policies. Then he tried to be the Republican nominee for president in 1908. Less than loyal, he backed Taft against Roosevelt in 1912.

Here’s a cool little factoid about Fairbanks. After serving in the Roosevelt administration, he ran again for vice president with Charles Evans Hughes in 1916. They lost to the incumbent Woodrow Wilson. This means that two of the Indiana vice presidents, Fairbanks and # 21 Thomas Hendricks, were also on losing tickets in that 1868 -1920 period that was thick with Hoosiers. While we have two vice presidents who served under two presidents (# 4 George Clinton and # 7 John C. Calhoun), Fairbanks would have been the first to do so in non-consecutive administrations.
   

Autumn on Crown Hill Cemetery,

Indianapolis (22 October 2006)

Had Fairbanks won the 1916 election, he would have joined the list of VP’s who died on the job. Kidney disease took him out in 1918 at the age of 66.

The coldest large city in the U.S., Fairbanks, Alaska, is named for this Indiana man who was on a commission that advised president McKinley during a time of territorial disputes with Britain and Canada.
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While this VP grave quest was introduced tongue-in-cheek, the record will note that we are close to half-way through the roster because fourteen passed VP’s went on to become president. Each name below is a link that will take you to the post from my ‘Dead Presidents’ Quest…except for Uncle Joe.

· VP # 1 - John Adams – VP to George Washington – elected president 1796
· VP # 2 - Thomas Jefferson – VP to John Adams – elected 1800
· VP # 8 - Martin Van Buren – VP to Andrew Jackson – elected 1836
· VP # 10 - John Tyler – VP to William Henry Harrison – death of president
· VP # 12 - Millard Fillmore – VP to Zachary Taylor – death of president
· VP # 16 - Andrew Johnson – VP to Abraham Lincoln – death of president
· VP # 20 - Chester A. Arthur – VP to James Garfield – death of president
· VP # 25 - Theodore Roosevelt – VP to William McKinley – death of president
· VP # 29 - Calvin Coolidge – VP to Warren Harding – death of president
· VP # 34 - Harry Truman – VP to Franklin Roosevelt – death of president
· VP # 36 - Richard Nixon – VP to Dwight Eisenhower – elected 1968
· VP # 37 - Lyndon Johnson – VP to John Kennedy – death of president
· VP # 40 - Gerald Ford – VP to Richard Nixon – resignation of president
· VP # 43 - George H. W. Bush – VP to Ronald Reagan – elected 1988
· VP # 47 - Joseph R. Biden – VP to Barack Obama – elected in 2020