Page:Men of Mark in America vol 1.djvu/304

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WILLIAM EATON CHANDLER

judge advocate-general of the navy department, March 9, 1865. On June 17, 1865, he was made assistant secretary of the United States treasury and held the position to November 30, 1867, when he resigned to resume the practice of law, establishing an office in Washington, District of Columbia, in connection with his office in Concord, New Hampshire. He was a delegate-at-large from New Hampshire to the Republican national convention of 1868, was chosen secretary of the national committee and as such took a prominent part both in the campaign of 1868 with William Claflin as chairman and in that of 1872 with Edwin D. Morgan as chairman. After 1872 he declined to serve longer as secretary, but took an active part as a member of the executive committee until 1884. He was elected a member of the state constitutional convention of 1876; was counsel for the Hayes electors of Florida before the canvassing board, and when the contest was transferred to Washington he assisted in preparing the case as presented to the Electoral Commission. When the state governments of South Carolina and Louisiana were surrendered to the Democratic claimants by the Hayes administration, Mr. Chandler criticized the action in letters published in the winter of 1877-78. In 1880 he headed the Blaine delegates from New Hampshire to the Republican national convention and served as a member of the committee on Credentials. When his favorite candidate was withdrawn he supported the nomination of General Garfield and during the campaign was a member of the National and of the Executive Committees. On March 23, 1881, he was nominated by President Garfield solicitor-general of the Department of Justice, but Attorney-general MacVeagh, and Senator Cameron opposed the confirmation, as did the entire Democratic side of the senate, on account of the radical stand occupied by him on the Southern question, and he was rejected by five majority, May 20, 1881. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1881, and on April 7, 1882, he was nominated as secretary of the navy by President Arthur and on April 12 the nomination was confirmed by the senate by a vote of twenty-eight to sixteen and he took possession of the office April 17, 1882. He introduced many reforms in the department and was the first secretary to build modern cruisers, four of which, constructed under his direction, were the pioneer crafts in the new United States navy. He organized the Greely Relief expedition in 1884. His conduct of