Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th vice president of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican vice president. As an attorney from Maine, Hamlin began his political career as a Democrat in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected twice to the United States House of Representatives, and then to the United States Senate. With his strong abolitionist views, he left the Democratic Party for the newly formed Republican Party in 1856. In the 1860 general election, Hamlin balanced the successful Republican ticket as a New Englander partnered with the Midwesterner Lincoln. Although not a close friend of the president, he lent loyal support to his key projects such as the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War. In the 1864 election, Hamlin was replaced as vice-presidential nominee by Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat from Tennessee who remained loyal to the union, and chosen for his appeal to Southern Unionists. After being appointed Collector of the Port of Boston, Hamlin was elected to two more terms in the Senate, and finally served as U.S. Minister to Spain before retiring in 1882.