Biography:

Roscoe Conkling was a congressman, politician, and leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party.  He was born on October 30, 1829 in New York, studied at the Auburn Academy, and joined the bar in 1850.  He was elected to serve in the US House of Representatives in 1859 and later became a US Senator (1867-1881).   He helped draft the Electoral Commission Act of 1877, as well as the 14th and 15th amendments, and he supported and helped pass Reconstruction legislation and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He was nominated in 1873 by Ulysses S. Grant to the post of chief justice of the Supreme Court, but declined the offer.  In 1876 he unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination.  By 1880 Conkling had become the leader of the Stalwart Faction of the Republican Party.  The Stalwarts staunchly supported Ulysses S. Grant in his bid for a presidential third term.  Due to divisions within the party, however, Republicans did not give Grant the nomination and opted instead to place James A. Garfield on the ticket.  He resigned from the Senate in 1881, returned to his law practice in New York City, and died on April 18, 1888.