page_title: Thomas H. Carter
section_title: Career in politics and government
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas H. Carter / Biography / Career in politics and government
caption_attribution_description: English: Senator Thomas Henry Carter
context_page_description: Thomas Henry Carter was a territorial delegate, a United States Representative, and a U.S. Senator from Montana. The child of Irish immigrants, Carter rose from a childhood spent on small farms in the Midwest to become one of the most successful and popular politicians in the early history of the State of Montana. He also made a name for himself within the national Republican Party, becoming in 1892 the first Catholic to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
context_section_description: Carter's first foray into public office in Montana was in the role of public administrator for Lewis and Clark County.  In 1888, he was nominated as the Republican candidate for the position of Territorial Delegate to Congress.  In the general election in November he faced Butte copper king and Democrat William Clark, making his first of numerous attempts at federal office.  Carter upset Clark by winning the three largely Democratic counties of Silver Bow, Deer Lodge, and Missoula, likely with the assistance of Marcus Daly, another influential Montana Democratic copper king and enemy of Clark.  Montana's Irish voters, who disliked Clark, also likely helped Carter to victory.  This particular election is said to have initiated the famous "War of the Copper Kings."  Nonetheless, Carter was elected as a Delegate to Congress and served a short term from March 4, 1889, to November 7, 1889, when the Territory of Montana was admitted as a state into the Union.  The people of Montana again elected Carter as their first Representative to Congress on October 1, 1889, when he defeated long-time territorial delegate and leading Montana Democrat Martin Maginnis, and he served from November 8, 1889, to March 3, 1891.  Importantly, Carter served as chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining, a remarkable achievement for a freshman legislator in the House of Representatives, and, as one historian suggested, due to his friendship with legendary Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reid of Maine.  Carter was an unsuccessful candidate in 1890 for reelection, losing a close election to Butte lawyer and Democrat William W. Dixon by 283 votes, or less than 1% of the total votes cast.  President Benjamin Harrison appointed Carter as the Commissioner of the General Land Office from 1891 to 1892, when he was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee.  He was the first Catholic to be the chairman of the Republican Party.
  Carter was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1895, until March 3, 1901. As a Senator he was chairman of the Committee on Relations with Canada (Fifty-fourth Congress), the Committee on the Census (Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses).  President William McKinley appointed him a member of the board of commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and he served as its president.  Carter was elected again as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1905, to March 3, 1911. He was not a candidate for reelection.
  He died from a lung infarction while at home in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 1911. His funeral was held at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, and he was interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in the city.
caption: Thomas Henry Carter, ca. 1890s
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