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William A. Wheeler
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Wheeler, William Hayes and Wheeler campaign literature Campaign pennant
Quick Facts
In full:
William Almon Wheeler
Born:
June 30, 1819, Malone, New York, U.S.
Died:
June 4, 1887, Malone (aged 67)
Political Affiliation:
Republican Party
Role In:
United States presidential election of 1876
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Wheeler, William
Wheeler, William William Wheeler.

William A. Wheeler

19th vice president of the United States
Also known as: William Almon Wheeler
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History

William A. Wheeler (born June 30, 1819, Malone, New York, U.S.—died June 4, 1887, Malone) was the 19th vice president of the United States (1877–81) who, with Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes, took office by the decision of an Electoral Commission appointed to rule on contested electoral ballots in the 1876 election.

Wheeler was the son of Almon Wheeler, a lawyer, and Eliza Woodworth. He was a successful lawyer and held several positions in New York state government in the 1840s and ’50s before serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1861–63). Returned to Congress in 1875, he was appointed to a committee investigating a disputed election in Louisiana and devised the “Wheeler compromise,” by which governmental control of the state was shared between the Democratic and Republican parties.

Hayes and Wheeler campaign literature
Hayes and Wheeler campaign literatureCampaign material for Rutherford B. Hayes (left) and William A. Wheeler for the 1876 U.S. presidential election.

He was nominated as vice president in order to lend sectional balance to the ticket, and in his acceptance letter he alluded to the need to end Reconstruction, as Hayes subsequently did. Wheeler ran on a platform favoring administrative integrity, civil service reform, and aid to education in the South. Distracted by health and personal problems—his wife died just prior to the Republican convention in 1876—he retired from public life after his term in office was over.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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