Got into a discussion the other day on the constitutional violations of the Lincoln administration. My buddy went on and on about one of Lincoln's biggest critics in congress being deported illegally. So I read up on this guy. Clement Vallandingham sounded like a major boob.
As the leader of the Copperhead faction of the democrats, he was vehement in opposing abolition and raged against Lincoln for years. He lost his seat in 1862 but kept on agitating. General Burnside got sick of it and locked him up under General Order 38. Rather than make him a martyr, Lincoln had him dumped across enemy lines in the south, where Jefferson Davis promptly locked him up as potential spy. He ended up taking a boat to Canada.
From Canada, he tried to drum up support for a covert uprising with a group called the Sons of Liberty. They were going to foment rebellion in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio and, when those states threw off the yokes of Northern oppression, form a new state called the "Northwestern Confederacy." He tried to kick it all off by sneaking back to Ohio and giving rabble rousing speeches. Everyone just ignored him including Lincoln. So he stuck around.
He spent the remaining years of his life failing to win office in Ohio and protesting the equality of black men. He died by accidentally shooting himself in the stomach. He was trying to demonstrate in a legal proceeding how his client could not be guilty of a bar room brawl murder because the victim likely shot himself. In demonstrating the process, he ended up shooting himself.
Not the greatest bio but certainly not the biggest boob in U.S. History. Who would qualify for that title?
Someone mentioned Wayne Wheeler with prohibition.
Bob Packwood got a mention as well.
As the leader of the Copperhead faction of the democrats, he was vehement in opposing abolition and raged against Lincoln for years. He lost his seat in 1862 but kept on agitating. General Burnside got sick of it and locked him up under General Order 38. Rather than make him a martyr, Lincoln had him dumped across enemy lines in the south, where Jefferson Davis promptly locked him up as potential spy. He ended up taking a boat to Canada.
From Canada, he tried to drum up support for a covert uprising with a group called the Sons of Liberty. They were going to foment rebellion in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio and, when those states threw off the yokes of Northern oppression, form a new state called the "Northwestern Confederacy." He tried to kick it all off by sneaking back to Ohio and giving rabble rousing speeches. Everyone just ignored him including Lincoln. So he stuck around.
He spent the remaining years of his life failing to win office in Ohio and protesting the equality of black men. He died by accidentally shooting himself in the stomach. He was trying to demonstrate in a legal proceeding how his client could not be guilty of a bar room brawl murder because the victim likely shot himself. In demonstrating the process, he ended up shooting himself.
Not the greatest bio but certainly not the biggest boob in U.S. History. Who would qualify for that title?
Someone mentioned Wayne Wheeler with prohibition.
Bob Packwood got a mention as well.
