Appointed by Abraham Lincoln Spouse(s) Margaret E. Dayton Preceded by Charles J. Faulkner Profession politician, Lawyer Succeeded by John Bigelow | Preceded by Richard P. Thompson Name William Dayton Resigned March 3, 1851 Preceded by Samuel L. Southard Education Princeton University | |
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Full Name William Lewis Dayton Born February 17, 1807
Basking Ridge, New Jersey ( 1807-02-17 ) Role Former United States Senator Died December 1, 1864, Paris, France Political party Whig Party, Republican Party | ||
Previous office Senator (NJ) 1842–1851 | ||
William L. Dayton | Wikipedia audio article
William Lewis Dayton (February 17, 1807 – December 1, 1864) was an American politician, active first in the Whig Party and later in the Republican Party. In the 1856 presidential election, he became the first Republican vice-presidential nominee when nominated alongside John C. Frémont. The Republican Party lost that campaign. During the American Civil War, Dayton served as the United States Ambassador to France, a position in which he worked to prevent French recognition of the Confederacy.
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Early life
Dayton was a distant relation of U.S. House Speaker and U.S. Constitution signatory Jonathan Dayton. He was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, to farmer Joel Dayton and his wife. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1825 and worked as a lawyer in Freehold.
Political career
In 1837, Dayton was elected to the New Jersey Legislative Council and became an associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court the following year. Following the death of U.S. Senator Samuel L. Southard, he was appointed to the United States Senate starting July 2, 1842, and elected to finish the term ending in 1845. He was re-elected by the New Jersey Legislature as a Whig in 1845 but lost in 1851, ending his service on March 3, 1851.
In 1856, Dayton was selected by the nascent Republican Party as their first nominee for Vice President of the United States over Abraham Lincoln at the Philadelphia Convention. He and his running mate, John C. Fremont, lost to the Democratic ticket of James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge. Afterwards, he served as New Jersey Attorney General until 1861, when President Lincoln appointed him Minister to France. He served from 1861 to until he died in 1864, throughout most of the American Civil War.
Ambassador
In France, Dayton was part of a successful lobbying campaign to prevent the government of Napoleon III from recognizing the independence of the Confederacy or allowing Confederate use of French ports.
Dayton died in Paris and was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey.
Legacy
His son, William Lewis Dayton, Jr. (1839–1897), graduated from Princeton in 1858 and served as President Chester A. Arthur's Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1882–1885.
Later, the town of Dayton, New Jersey, was named in his honor.