Samuel Tweedy

**Samuel Tweedy** (March 8, 1776 – July 1, 1868) was a United States Representative from Connecticut and the 8th Vice President of the United States.

Born at Nine Partners, New York in 1776, he later moved to Danbury, Connecticut. He gained local notoriety when he hosted Presidential candidate Langdon Cheves in 1816 while he visited Connecticut. Cheves and Tweedy quickly became close friends. Cheves invited Tweedy to continue his northern tour, but Tweedy declined, citing that he had to focus on his family. Cheves and Tweedy continued their correspondence and eventually Tweedy joined him in New York. Cheves surprised the audience as well as Tweedy when he announced him as his running mate. Tweedy was taken by surprise, but accepted. He returned home a few days later, and remained in Danbury until his inauguration as Vice President. Cheves sought Tweedy's consul frequently, and he is now seen as the most powerful Vice President in history, and the most influential since Paul Revere. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives while Vice President in 1818, 1820, and 1824 and also served in the Connecticut Senate 1826-1828.

Tweedy held many local offices before being elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835). He died in Danbury, Connecticut, aged 92. He was buried in Wooster Cemetery.

## Pre-1816 Career

Not much is known of Samuel Tweedy's life prior to his Vice Presidential run in 1816, other than his birth date. Tweedy was notoriously shy and rarely made public appearances in his life. To this day, no surviving depiction of him exists. He was evidently an influential man in Danbury, as his was the home Presidential candidate Langdon Cheves stayed in during his time in Connecticut. Tweedy, though extremely shy, became close friends with Cheves very quickly. Though declining to continue touring with Cheves, Tweedy did meet him a second time in New York, where Cheves announced to an audience that Tweedy would be his Vice President. During his Vice Presidency, he was incredibly powerful and influential, and he and Cheves would keep a close friendship and correspondence for the remainder of Cheves' life. Though Tweedy did not hold office after 1835, he remained politically influential, and advised Cheves once again when he was elected Vice President in 1849, and continued to advise him during his third Presidential term (1849 - 1853) after the death of President James K. Polk. When Cheves was again elected to the Vice Presidency, this time under President Sam Houston's third term, Tweedy advised him once again.

## Vice Presidency

Samuel Tweedy entered office with almost no recognition outside of Danbury, and no prior political or military experience. His election as Vice President caused outcry among many opponents of President Cheves, as well as some of his allies, who thought he was trying to be another Esek Hopkins, who selected William Whitfield II, an extremely obscure military officer from North Carolina, as his Vice President in 1789. Even former Vice President Ebenezer Sage, who had also come from obscurity, said that Vice President Tweedy was unqualified for the Vice Presidency, and once even met with President Cheves for his firing, upon which Cheves yelled at Sage in a fit of rage to leave the White House and ordered him not to return. To the surprise and chagrin of his opponents, Vice President Tweedy turned out to be incredibly competent and influential, and many said he was the new Paul Revere, who was the model for most Vice Presidents of the 19th Century. Revere, who served as Vice President under President John Jay, was a Federalist, but when the Federalists did not yield a candidate in 1816, he supported the Presidential nominee of the Adams Party, bank director Philemon Beecher from Ohio. Beecher lost in a landslide to Cheves, though he was supported by Former Presidents Jay and Morris. Vice President Revere once said in 1817, "The Vice President which our new President has just selected has, though I do not subscribe to his politics, proved to be more competent than many active politicians, and I must say I am pleased with him." Vice Presidents Revere and Tweedy had a joint public appearance in January 1818, about 4 months before Revere's death. The two were said to become friends, and Tweedy was one of the many prominent figures at Revere's funeral, with former President Jay delivering the eulogy.

Tweedy served in the Connecticut State House of Representatives twice during his Vice Presidency, where he was a major figure in both terms, 1818 and 1820. He later served in that House in 1824, after his Vice Presidency ended.

Tweedy's popularity increased during middle 1818, and his already influential status was enhanced, making him arguably the most powerful and successful Vice Presidents of the United States. His time in the Senate was highlighted by his involvement in the debate over the Missouri Compromise, which he was in favor of. He clashed often with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, James Barbour, who he saw as a Southern partisan during the debate over the Missouri Compromise. Though politically aligned, Barbour and Tweedy thought that each were sectionalists and biased towards their respective regions. They eventually became allies once again and worked together to support the bill. In the final months of Barbour's term, the two got along relatively well and when John Gaillard became President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Tweedy's influence lessened in the Senate, but was just as strong outside of the Senate as he had ever been. During the Presidential Election of 1820, Tweedy was suggested by many to be nominated for a second term, and he would have been the first Vice President to serve a second term. Tweedy declined, on the grounds that he did not want to continue being in the public eye. However, three years after his retirement, he served a third term in the Connecticut State House of Representatives, and later as a United States Representative.

## Post-Vice Presidency

After leaving the Vice Presidency at age 44, a relatively young age, Tweedy thought a bright political future was ahead of him. In 1824, he was elected to the Connecticut State House of Representatives for a third time. His last term in the State House was uneventful, but he was admired by his peers and was often approached for advice during his term. He refused to run for re-election, stating that three terms was enough, and lived in retirement for eight years, mostly campaigning for political allies, notably in 1820 for President Cheves, as well as eventual Presidents Zachary Taylor and Sam Houston. He did not support President Houston's re-election campaign, and instead supported Major General James Wilson II, who came in second place behind Houston.

In 1832, he successfully ran for the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut, and served 1 term from 1833 - 1835. He attempted to run for President in 1836, but dropped out and supported one of his colleagues, New York Representative Millard Fillmore, who would win the Whig Party nomination and eventually the Presidency. Fillmore's running mate was his wife, Abigail Fillmore, and the Fillmores' ticket won the election easily against State Senator William H. Seward, Attorney Rodolphus Dickinson, Representative Joseph Lecompte, and State Senator Alfred Dockery.

He did not hold office after 1835, but was very influential until the end of his life. He was a strong orator and often delivered reportedly fantastic speeches on behalf of Presidential Candidates. During and after his Vice Presidency, he campaigned in each Presidential Election from 1820 until 1868, Supporting 9 candidates who would eventually be elected President, and only 4 who would lose.

### Election of 1820

Vice President Tweedy did not wish to continue his services as Vice President, but continued supporting Cheves' Presidency. Though the two had many political differences, the two were incredibly loyal and supported one another in all aspects of life. One instance of this was in the Election of 1820, when the nominee of Tweedy's party, the Anti-Jacksonian Party (which he would remain a member of until his death, 23 years after Jackson's death), Samuel Hoar, was running against incumbent President Langdon Cheves. Many initially thought Tweedy would turn his back on the President and support Hoar, but Tweedy remained loyal, and, although a supporter of many of Hoar's policies, he supported Cheves' run for a second term, which was successful. Cheves and Tweedy clashed when Cheves selected William Drayton, a Jacksonian South Carolinian, as his running mate. Tweedy argued that Cheves should not have selected another man from the same state as him, and pleaded that he not give a Jacksonian the Vice Presidency. Though Cheves still kept Drayton as his running mate, the two of them maintained their strong friendship. The Cheves/Drayton ticket won an upset landslide victory against the Hoar/Claiborne ticket, and the so-called "Era of Good Feelings" would be defined by Cheves' Presidency.

### Election of 1852 and Vice Presidential Run

President Cheves unsurprisingly did not seek the Presidency again in 1852, and instead ran for the Vice Presidency as running mate for former President Sam Houston. Tweedy was outraged that his old friend could hold the office of Vice President and President yet still was in favor of secession. This caused a split in their decades long friendship, when Tweedy accepted to the Vice Presidential nomination as former President Millard Fillmore's running mate. The Houston/Cheves ticket swept the South, while the Fillmore/Tweedy ticket easily won Northern States. the Central United States was the deciding factor in the Election, and Houston won the Election because of his triumphs in the Midwest. Tweedy and Cheves resumed their friendship after the Election, and remained friends until Cheves' death in 1857, and Tweedy supported Cheves' run for the Presidency in 1856, although it was unsuccessful.

### Presidential Candidate

In 1860, former Vice President Zina Pitcher announced that he would run for President of the United States. Pitcher was known to be indecisive and was famously incompetent as Vice President. He was selected in 1832 as President Sam Houston's running mate for reelection. Houston thought that Pitcher, who was from Michigan, would be the key to winning a broader amount of states outside of the South. Though Houston was correct, Pitcher was known to have a terrible temper which often erupted in the Senate. Pitcher unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 1836, as Joseph Lecompte's running mate. He was active in state politics until 1860, when he decided to run for President. Upon this, an allied coalition of President Millard Fillmore, Vice President Abraham Lincoln, and former Vice President Samuel Tweedy, was formed in order to make the Election go to the United States House of Representatives, upon which Fillmore would be reelected. However, during the General Election, Vice President Lincoln amassed large amounts of support in the North, and Fillmore slipped in the polls. When the Election results were tallied, Vice President Lincoln easily won, with Vice President Tweedy in second place, President Fillmore in third, and Vice President Pitcher in last place. In 1864, Lincoln asked Tweedy to be his running mate, but Tweedy declined, and Lincoln instead chose Fillmore to be his Vice President. Fillmore later became President when Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

### Election of 1868

In 1868, President Fillmore did not seek a fourth term, and many urged Vice President Tweedy to run for the Presidency. Tweedy, 88, declined to run, saying that the Anti-Jacksonian Party served no purpose, since President Jackson had been dead for nearly 2 and a half decades.

Gouverneur Morris II, the son of President Gouverneur Morris and the unsuccessful candidate for President in 1864, was again nominated for the Presidency by the Republicans. Tweedy endorsed and campaigned for Morris, although he campaigned against him in 1864. Morris won the Election easily against John Marshall Harlan, and although Tweedy died months before, he thanked Tweedy for supporting him at his inauguration. Morris was the first son of a President to be Elected President as well.

### Retirement from Politics

Tweedy officially retired from politics in 1866, and lived in Danbury, Connecticut for the last two years of his life. He died at age 92 in Danbury July 1, 1868. His death was mourned by all Americans, and his funeral was held privately, and among the guests were President Millard Fillmore, President-elect Gouverneur Morris II, Vice President-elect Enos T. Throop, and Secretary of State Thomas Edison.