James S. Sherman
| James S. Sherman | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 27th Vice President of the United States | |
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In office March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 |
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| President | William Howard Taft |
| Preceded by | Charles W. Fairbanks |
| Succeeded by | Thomas R. Marshall |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 27th district | |
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In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1909 |
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| Preceded by | Michael E. Driscoll |
| Succeeded by | Charles S. Millington |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 25th district | |
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In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903 |
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| Preceded by | James J. Belden |
| Succeeded by | Lucius Littauer |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 23rd district | |
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In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891 |
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| Preceded by | John T. Spriggs |
| Succeeded by | Henry Wilbur Bentley |
| Mayor of Utica, New York | |
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In office March 1884 – March 1885 |
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| Preceded by | John T. Spriggs |
| Succeeded by | Thomas E. Kinney |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Schoolcraft Sherman October 24, 1855 Utica, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1912 (aged 57) Utica, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Carrie Babcock Sherman |
| Alma mater | Hamilton College |
| Signature |  |
James Schoolcraft Sherman (October 24, 1855 – October 30, 1912) was an American politician who was the 27th Vice President of the United States from 1909 until 1912, under President William Howard Taft and a United States Representative from New York. He was a member of the inter-related Baldwin, Hoar, and Sherman families, prominent lawyers and politicians of New England.
Although not a high-powered administrator, he made a natural committee chairman, and his genial personality eased the workings of the House, so that he was known all his life as 'Sunny Jim'. He was the first Vice President to fly in a plane (New York, 1911), and also the first to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game.
Sherman is the most recent Vice President to have died in office.
Sherman was born in Utica, New York, the son of Richard Updike Sherman and Mary Frances Sherman. According to Facts on File, "Sherman was of the ninth generation of descendants from Henry Sherman, a line also connected to Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union general during the Civil War".
He was educated at Hamilton College in Clinton New York, where he was noted for his skills in oratory and debate. He studied law at Hamilton for a year, and then continued his studies at the Utica office of Beardsley, Cookingham and Burdick, which included his brother in law Henry J. Cookingham as a partner. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, and practiced with Cookingham in the firm of Cookingham & Martin. Sherman was also president of the Utica Trust & Deposit Co. and the New Hartford Canning Company. He became mayor of Utica at age twenty-nine.
In 1881, he married Carrie Babcock of East Orange, New Jersey, and they had three sons.
In 1886, Sherman was elected U.S. Representative from New York's 23rd congressional district as a Republican, and he served 20 years in the House (four years, followed by a two-year break and 16 more years).
At a time when the Republican Party was divided over protective tariffs, Sherman sided with William McKinley and the conservative branch, defending the gold standard against the potentially inflationary 'free silver'.
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Wikipedia