Samuel J. Randall

Samuel Jackson Randall ( born October 10, 1828 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † April 13, 1890 in Washington DC ) was an American politician (Democratic Party) and from 1876 to 1881 the 33rd Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States.

Samuel Randall attended the public schools of Philadelphia and the University Academy, a private school. He hit a career as a merchant, and gained his first political experience as a member of the City Council of Philadelphia 1852-1855. From 1858 to 1859 he sat in the Senate of Pennsylvania.

In the civil war Randall was first used in 1861 for three months as a soldier of the cavalry of urban Philadelphia. Later he fought in the rank of Captain during the Gettysburg campaign. Before and during the battle of Gettysburg he took the responsibilities of a Provost Marshal.

Even before this battle Randall was elected to the House of Representatives in Washington; his term of office began on 4 March 1863. During the following years he served, among others, as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, before he became the successor of the deceased in the Official Michael C. Kerr as Speaker of the House on December 4, 1876. In the following years he was one of the leaders of the Democrats at the federal level and has both 1880 and 1884 pulled a Democratic presidential candidate in consideration.

After the surprising defeat of the Democrats in the midterm elections in 1880 Randall had handed over the office of Speaker of the Republican J. Warren Keifer. He belonged to the House of Representatives but continued until his death in April 1890.