James Harlan (senator)

James Harlan (* August 26, 1820 in Clark County, Illinois; † October 5, 1899 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa ) was an American politician. He was a member of the Cabinet of President Andrew Johnson 1865-1866 as Minister of the Interior and represented the state of Iowa in the U.S. Senate.

Lawyer and senator

As a four -year-old native of Illinois James Harlan and his family moved to Indiana, where he attended the village school, helping his father in the farm work and even to 1841 worked as a teacher before he struck an academic education, and in 1845 graduated from Indiana Asbury University, later DePauw University in Greencastle, made. In the same year he moved to Iowa, where he studied law in Iowa City, was admitted to the bar in 1850 and eventually began to practice as a lawyer. From 1853 to 1855 he served as president of Iowa Wesleyan College.

At first the Whigs related parties he declined the nomination of that party for election as Governor of Iowa in 1850. Later he joined the Free Soil Party, for which he was in 1855 elected U.S. Senator. In January 1857, the seat was declared vacant by the Senate, as there had been at Harlan's election by the Iowa General Assembly irregularities. After a short time Harlan was re-elected by the Parliament of Iowa and took his seat on January 29, 1857 true; in the meantime he had gone over to the Republicans.

Secretary of the Interior

On May 15, 1865, he retired at his own request from the Senate, after President Johnson had appointed him as interior minister in his cabinet; this office he took over the following day. He proclaimed the aim of his term of office, the "house clean up " and wanted to "fire a considerable number of people who rarely were staying at their respective desks ". This included Harlan for the well-known poet Walt Whitman, who was an official in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He was held on June 30, 1865 at his workplace, the book written by Whitman Leaves of Grass, described it as morally offensive and sat Whitman with the words before the door, he did not have the author of this book in his ministry. In addition, Harlan said: " Should the President of the United States order his reinstatement, I would rather resign than to adjust it again. " 29 years later, he defended his action, and added, Whitman was only released because his services were not needed.

Harlan then went on August 31, 1866 back voluntarily because he was no longer agree with the policy of President Johnson. He returned the following year returned to the Senate, where he represented Iowa again until 1873. Then he sat down to rest in Mount Pleasant, where he died in 1899.

Others

In the National Statuary Hall, the Memorial Hall in the Capitol in Washington, since 1910, is a bronze sculpture by James Harlan. Each U.S. state is represented there with two statues of important personalities of its history; the choice of Iowa also fell on Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, who held his seat in the Senate during Harlan's time as Home Secretary.

James Harlan was a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln and his family. 1868 married his daughter Mary Lincoln's son Robert.