| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Hamlin, Hannibal |
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| 1809–91, Vice President of the United States (1861–65), b. Paris, Maine. Admitted to the bar in 1833, he practiced at Hampden, Maine. He was a Maine legislator (1836–40, 1847), a U.S. Representative (1843–47), and a U.S. Senator (1848–57). As a Democrat he supported Franklin Pierce’s administration, but left (1856) his party when it adopted a strong proslavery platform, and joined the Republican party; in the same year he was elected governor of Maine. After a few weeks he resigned to reenter (1857) the U.S. Senate, where he became increasingly prominent. Geographical and political considerations made him a natural choice as Abraham Lincoln’s running mate in 1860. As Vice President during the Civil War he presided over the Senate with ability and took part in a variety of governmental wartime activities. He returned to the Senate (1869–81), supporting the Reconstruction and the economic policies of his party. He was minister to Spain in 1881–82. | 1 | | See biographies by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (1899, repr. 1971) and H. D. Hunt (1969). | 2 |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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