Levi P. Morton

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Levi Parsons Morton

22nd Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893
President	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Thomas A. Hendricks
Succeeded by	Adlai E. Stevenson

Born	May 16, 1824 Shoreham, Vermont
Died	May 16, 1920 (aged 96) Rhinebeck, New York
Political party	Republican Party
Spouse	Anna Livingston Reade
Religion	Congregationalist

Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was a Representative from New York and the 22nd Vice President of the United States.

Morton was born in Shoreham, Addison County, Vermont. His father was the Rev. Daniel O. Morton, a Congregationalist minister of old New England stock. He left school early and worked as a clerk in a general store in Enfield, Massachusetts, taught school in Boscawen, New Hampshire, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Hanover, New Hampshire, moved to Boston, entered the dry-goods business in New York City and engaged in banking there. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1876 to the 45th Congress. He was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes as honorary commissioner to the Paris Exhibition of 1878.

Levi P. Morton

Morton was elected as a Republican to the 46th and 47th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1879, until his resignation, effective March 21, 1881. Presidential candidate James Garfield asked him to be his vice presidential candidate in 1880, but Morton turned down the offer. If he had accepted and history held true, this would have meant Morton would have become the twenty-first President after Garfield's assassination. He asked to be Minister to Britain or France instead. He was United States Minister to France from 1881 to 1885 (a deluded Charles Guiteau reportedly decided to murder Garfield after he was "passed over" as minister to France).

Morton was very popular in France, helping commercial relations run smoothly between the two countries during his term and he hammered the first rivet in the construction of the Statue of Liberty in Paris on October 24, 1881 (it was driven into the big toe of Lady Liberty’s left foot). Morton was elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Benjamin Harrison, serving from March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893.

Levi Morton was Governor of New York from 1895 to 1896. He was considered for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1896 which went to William McKinley. Following his public career, he became a real estate investor. He died in Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York, on his 96th birthday, the only U.S. President or Vice President to have died on their birthday. He is interred in the Rhinebeck Cemetery.

The Village of Morton Grove, Illinois is named after Morton. He provided the funding necessary to allow Miller's Mill (now Lincoln Avenue) to pass through the upstart neighborhood, and provide goods to trade and sell. Morton Grove was incorporated in December of 1895.

Morton owned property in Newport, Rhode Island and lived on tony Bellevue Avenue in "Fairlawn," currently owned by Salve Regina University and housing the Pell Center of International Relations and Public Policy. He left a parcel of nearby property to the city of Newport for use as a park. At the corners of Coggeshall and Morton Avenues (formerly Brenton Road) this land today bears his name, "Morton Park."

Morton was the second-longest lived Vice President, living to be exactly 96 years old. Only John Nance Garner lived longer. Morton even survived five of his successors in the vice presidency, Adlai E. Stevenson, Garret Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles W. Fairbanks and James S. Sherman.

[edit] References

National Contest, Containing Portraits and Biographies of Our National Favorites, Darling Bros. & Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1888.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Benjamin A. Willis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 11th congressional district March 4, 1879 – March 21, 1881	Succeeded by Roswell P. Flower
Preceded by Edward F. Noyes	United States Minister to France March 21, 1881 – May 14, 1885	Succeeded by Robert Milligan McLane
Preceded by John A. Logan	Republican Party Vice Presidential candidate 1888 (won)	Succeeded by Whitelaw Reid
Preceded by Thomas A. Hendricks	Vice President of the United States March 4, 1889–March 4, 1893	Succeeded by Adlai E. Stevenson
Preceded by Roswell P. Flower	Governor of New York 1895–1896	Succeeded by Frank S. Black

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Vice Presidents of the United States of America

Adams • Jefferson • Burr • Clinton • Gerry • Tompkins • Calhoun • Van Buren • R. Johnson • Tyler • Dallas • Fillmore • King • Breckinridge • Hamlin • A. Johnson • Colfax • Wilson • Wheeler • Arthur • Hendricks • Morton • Stevenson • Hobart • Roosevelt • Fairbanks • Sherman • Marshall • Coolidge • Dawes • Curtis • Garner • Wallace • Truman • Barkley • Nixon • L. Johnson • Humphrey • Agnew • Ford • Rockefeller • Mondale • Bush • Quayle • Gore • Cheney

United States Republican Party Vice Presidential Nominees
Dayton • Hamlin • Johnson • Colfax • Wilson • Wheeler • Arthur • Logan • Morton • Reid • Hobart • Roosevelt • Fairbanks • Sherman • Butler • Fairbanks • Coolidge • Dawes • Curtis • Knox • McNary • Bricker • Warren • Nixon • Lodge • Miller • Agnew • Dole • Bush • Quayle • Kemp • Cheney