Hannibal Hamlin

**Hannibal Hamlin** (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was a politician from Maine. Hamlin served as a lawmaker in Maine, governor of Maine, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives and of the U.S. Senate. He began his career as a Democrat but later became a Republican. He was the first Republican to serve as Vice President of the United States under U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 presidential election.

## Early life

Hamlin was born in Paris, Maine. He was a descendant of James Hamlin, who had lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639.

Hamlin attended the area's schools and later managed his father's farm. For the next few years, he worked at several jobs. He studied law. He lived in Hampden, Maine, where he practiced law until 1848, when he moved away. Hamlin studied law. He was admitted to the legal profession in 1833 and quickly became known as a good lawyer and a good speaker.

## Political career

In politics, Hamlin began as an antislavery Democrat. He was a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1836 to 1840 and became in charge of it. He was a U.S. Representative from 1843 to 1847 and a U.S. Senator from 1848 to 1856. From the very beginning of his service in Congress he was a well-known opponent of the extension of slavery, a notable supporter of the Wilmot Proviso, and an opponent of the Missouri Compromise. In 1856, he left the Democratic Party and joined the new Republican Party, which had been started two years earlier.

The Republicans in tjhe state chose him as their cndidate for governor of Maine 1856, and he won a landslide victory. He was inaugurated as governor on January 8, 1857. In late February, however, he gave up the governorship, and he joined the U.S. Senate from 1857 and served until 1861.

From 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War, he was Vice President of the United States. While in this office he gave much advice to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and supported both the Emancipation Proclamation and the arming of the slaves. After the war, he served in the U.S. Senate (1869-1881), was minister to Spain (1881-1883), and then left public life. He died at Bangor, Maine, on July 4, 1891.

## Infobox (vice president)

- **name**: Hannibal Hamlin
- **image**: Hannibal Hamlin, photo portrait seated, c1860-65.jpg
- **order**: 15th Vice President of the United States
- **term start**: March 4, 1861
- **term end**: March 4, 1865
- **president**: Abraham Lincoln
- **predecessor**: John C. Breckinridge
- **successor**: Andrew Johnson
- **order3**: United States Senate, United States Senator
from Maine
- **term start3**: June 8, 1848
- **term end3**: January 7, 1857
- **predecessor3**: Wyman B. S. Moor
- **successor3**: Amos Nourse
- **term start4**: March 4, 1857
- **term end4**: January 17, 1861
- **predecessor4**: Amos Nourse
- **successor4**: Lot M. Morrill
- **term start5**: March 4, 1869
- **term end5**: March 3, 1881
- **predecessor5**: Lot M. Morrill
- **successor5**: Eugene Hale
- **order6**: 26th List of Governors of Maine, Governor of Maine
- **term start6**: January 8, 1857
- **term end6**: February 25, 1857
- **predecessor6**: Samuel Wells
- **successor6**: Joseph H. Williams
- **order7**: Member of the
United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's Maine's 6th congressional district, 6th district
- **term start7**: March 4, 1843
- **term end7**: March 3, 1847
- **predecessor7**: Alfred Marshall (congressman), Alfred Marshall
- **successor7**: James S. Wiley
- **order8**: United States Ambassador to Spain, United States Minister to Spain
- **appointer8**: James Garfield
- **term start8**: June 30, 1881
- **term end8**: October 17, 1882
- **predecessor8**: Lucius Fairchild
- **successor8**: John W. Foster
- **birth date**: August 27, 1809
- **birth place**: Paris, Maine
- **death date**: July 4, 1891 (aged 81)
- **death place**: Bangor, Maine
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
United States Republican Party, Republican
- **spouse**: Ellen Vesta Emery Hamlin