October 30, 1912: Vice President James S. Sherman Dies

October 30, 1912: Vice President James S. Sherman dies in his hometown of Utica, New York. He was 57 years old, and he remains the last incumbent Vice President to die in office.

There have been 7 Vice Presidents who have died in office: George Clinton, under James Madison, on April 20, 1812; Elbridge Gerry, also under Madison, on November 23, 1814; William R. King, under Franklin Pierce, on April 18, 1853; Henry Wilson, under Ulysses S. Grant, on November 22, 1875; Thomas A. Hendricks, under Grover Cleveland, on November 25, 1885; Garret Hobart, under William McKinley, on November 21, 1899; and Sherman, under William Howard Taft.

There have been 9 Vice Presidents who have vacated the office due to a vacancy in the Presidency: John Tyler, upon the death of William Henry Harrison, April 4, 1841; Millard Fillmore, upon the death of Zachary Taylor, July 9, 1850; Andrew Johnson, upon the death by assassination of Abraham Lincoln, on April 15, 1865; Chester Arthur, upon the death by assassination of James Garfield, September 19, 1881; Theodore Roosevelt, upon the death by assassination of McKinley, September 14, 1901; Calvin Coolidge, upon the death of Warren Harding, August 2, 1923; Harry Truman, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 12, 1945; Lyndon Johnson, upon the death by assassination of John F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963; and Gerald Ford, upon the resignation due to scandal of Richard Nixon, August 9, 1974.

Two Vice Presidents have resigned: John C. Calhoun, due to a dispute with President Andrew Jackson, on December 28, 1832, at which point he had already been thrown off the ticket for re-election and replaced, anyway; and Spiro Agnew, under Richard Nixon, due to a plea deal on corruption charges, on October 10, 1973.

James Schoolcraft Sherman was born on October 25, 1855 in Utica, New York. He was a member of the interrelated Baldwin, Hoar, and Sherman families, prominent lawyers and politicians of New England, New York and Ohio. The Shermans he was related to included Roger Sherman, who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States; and General William Tecumseh Sherman and his brother John, a Senator and a Secretary of the Treasury.

James S. Sherman married Carrie Babcock in 1881, and they had 3 sons: Sherrill, Richard and Thomas. James was elected Mayor of Utica as a Republican in 1884, and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1886 and 1888. Losing in the Democratic landslide of 1890, he returned to the House in 1892, and was continually re-elected until 1908, when he was elected Vice President on a ticket with William Howard Taft.

At first, Sherman and Taft found themselves at odds over both tariff policy and the role of the Vice President. During the beginning of his term, Taft, who had been associated with progressives, had to deal with the Speaker of the House, Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, who was a part of the conservatives. Sherman, who had more experience in Congress, was expected to be a liaison for Taft with Cannon. "I am going to rely on you, Jim, to take care of Cannon for me. Whatever I have to do there will be done through you," proposed Taft.

Some later Vice Presidents have done this for their bosses. Sherman refused, saying, "Not through me. You will have to act on your own account. I am to be Vice President, and acting as a messenger boy is not part of the duties as Vice President."

But as Taft became embattled with parts of the progressive faction of the Republican Party, the two of them worked together more harmoniously – a relationship eased further by First Lady Helen Taft's enjoyment of the company of James and Carrie Sherman. Mrs. Taft, who wanted to be First Lady more than her husband wanted to be President -- he really wanted to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which he eventually became -- was definitely the power behind the throne.

Taft declared that Sherman accomplished much on Capitol Hill by his "charm of speech and manner, and his spirit of conciliation and compromise," backed by a "stubborn adherence" to his principles. So Sherman became the 1st Vice President to be nominated for re-election since Calhoun in 1828. (Calhoun had served a term with John Quincy Adams and a term with Jackson.) But the conservative-progressive split in the party led former President Theodore Roosevelt to challenge Taft, who had been his handpicked successor, for the nomination. Taft controlled the Delegates, and won.

Roosevelt then formed the Progressive Party, splitting the Republican vote, and making it nearly impossible for either of them to beat the Democratic Party's nominee, Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey.

Roosevelt was shot while campaigning in Milwaukee on October 14, but recovered. What hardly anyone knew was that Wilson's health wasn't as good as it appeared. But in the most danger of all was Sherman: In 1904, he had been diagnosed with Bright's disease, a kidney disorder that is treatable now, but, at the time, was usually a death sentence within 5 years. Sherman should have told Taft about it as far back as being offered the Vice Presidential nomination in 1908 -- although it almost certainly wouldn't have had any effect on either the 1908 or the 1912 election.

On October 30, 1912, 6 days before the election, Sherman died at his home in Utica. Wilson and his running mate, Governor Thomas R. Marshall, finished 1st, but did not get a majority. Roosevelt and his running mate, Governor Hiram Johnson of California, finished 2nd. Nicholas Murray Butler, the much-admired President of Columbia University, was designated by the Republican Party to receive whatever Electoral Votes to which Sherman would have been entitled. But, since Taft won only 2 States, Vermont and Utah, he and Butler each received only 8 Electoral Votes.

The Vice Presidency remained vacant until Inauguration Day, March 4, 1913, when Wilson and Marshall were sworn in. In that interim, the next person in line for the Presidency, under the law in effect at the time, the Presidential Succession Act of 1886, was the Secretary of State, Elihu Root.

Elihu Root

Carrie Sherman lived on until 1931. She was buried next to her husband at Forest Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Utica. Several other political figures are buried there, including Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York, and the Democratic nominee for President in 1868; and Roscoe Conkling, who was, at a time when that office did not yet officially exist, effectively the Senate Majority Leader in the 1870s. Despite their difference of party, Conkling married Seymour's sister.

*

October 30, 1912 was a Wednesday. There were no scores on this historic day: Baseball season had ended with the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series over the New York Giants 14 days earlier, football was in midweek, professional basketball barely existed, and it was too early for the National Hockey Association and Pacific Coast Hockey Association seasons to start.