Biography of hannibal hamlin
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Hannibal Hamlin (1861–1865)
Hannibal Hamlin was born in Paris Hill, Maine, on August 27, 1809. His father was a doctor and a farmer but Hannibal’s education was limited because of financial restraints. He had to cut school short in order to help on the family farm when his older brother was ill and then when his father died. To help support his family, he worked as a surveyor and a teacher. Finally, he began to study law with a firm in Portland, Maine, and was mentored by Samuel Fessenden, an outspoken antislavery activist. Hamlin was eventually admitted to the bar in 1833 and opened his own law practice in Hampden, Maine, where he also served as the town attorney. That same year, he married Sarah Jane Emery, and they eventually had four children. Hamlin entered politics when he was first elected to the Maine state House of Representatives in 1835. As a Jacksonian Democrat who strongly opposed slavery, he served in state government until he was elected to the U.S. Congress in 18
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Cabinet and Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891)
Vice President elected on 1860 Republican ticket but unexpectedly dropped on 1864 Union ticket in favor of Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee War Democrat. He had a cordial but not close relationship with the President. He exercised an important role in the selection of Lincoln’s first cabinet; he argued unsuccessfully against Seward’s inclusion in cabinet but was successful in naming Gideon Welles as New England’s cabinet representative. Hamlin played little role in President Lincoln’s first term, but did help win Mr. Lincoln’s agreement for the use of black soldiers. Hamlin was a strong supporter of Negro rights, before, during and after the Civil War. After the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, Hamlin became one of the first to pressure the President to pursue emancipation and recruitment of black soldiers as a strategy of war. He pushed for an immediate Proclamation of Emancipation in 1862.
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March 4, 1861, was a sad day for Hannibal Hamlin. On that day, he gave up the Senate seat he had held for 12 years to become vice president of the United States.
At high noon, Hamlin called the Senate to beställning and swore in newly elected senators. Shortly after 1:00 p.m., he welcomed into the chamber outgoing President James Buchanan and President-elect Abraham Lincoln. Then the entire assemblage rose and proceeded to the Capitol’s east front for Lincoln’s inaugural.
Hannibal Hamlin owed his classical name to the influence of his grandfather, who loved the great military figures of ancient history. Tall, with piercing black eyes and olive-colored skin, the courteous and affable Hamlin proved to be a natural politician.
In 1860, as Republican Party leaders worked to arrange a successful presidential ticket, they decided that Hamlin, a former Democrat from Maine, would politically and geographically balance Lincoln, a former Whig from Illinois. When an excited ally inter