Samuel Sullivan "Sunset" Cox (September 30, 1824 – September 10, 1889) was an American Congressman and diplomat. He represented both

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and New York in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and served as

United States Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S ...

to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. During and before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Cox was a moderate member of the

Copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...

faction, who supported peace with the South at any cost. He voted against the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...

. After moving to New York, he focused his advocacy on

trade liberalization Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

, civil service reform, and railroad regulation.

Early life and education

Samuel Sullivan Cox was born on September 30, 1824 in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

to Ezekiel Taylor and Maria Matilda (née Sullivan) Cox.

Family

Ezekiel Taylor Cox was a journalist and politician in Zanesville, descended from a prominent

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

family. His ancestors include Thomas Cox, one of the original proprietors of the Province of East New Jersey, Congressman James Cox, who fought for George Washington's Continental Army, and Joseph Borden, the founder of

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.James J. Wilson. In politics, Ezekiel was an uncompromising

Jacksonian Democrat Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, An ...

. Cox was named for his maternal grandfather,

Samuel Sullivan This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'', the List of Heroes graphic novels, ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes. Main characters Character duration In i ...

. Samuel Sullivan served as Ohio Treasurer from 1820–23 and, like Ezekiel Cox, represented Zanesville in the Ohio State Senate. At fourteen, Cox began serving as an assistant to his father, who was then clerk of the Ohio Supreme Court and of the Court of Common Pleas. As a child, Cox was described by neighbors as "bright, sunny, genial, fond of fun, sparkling with wit, always truthful, fearless, and generous, never hesitating to confess a fault of his own, and ever ready to defend the weak and oppressed." He was a star student and dreamed of traveling the world. Among his classmates at the academy in Zanesville were future Supreme Court Justice William Burnham Woods and geologist James M. Safford.

Education

In 1842, Cox entered

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

at Athens, which was dominated by a rivalry between the locals and university students. In a memorable incident during his freshman year, the town won a court case against the university and Cox sabotaged a cannon scheduled to be fired in celebration. He soon became determined to leave Athens, which he referred to as a "scaly vale of mud." By 1844, he was re-enrolled at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. There, he joined the fraternity

Delta Phi Delta Phi () is a fraternity founded in 1827 at Union College in Schenectady, New York consisting of ten active chapters along the East Coast of the United States. The fraternity also uses the names "St. Elmo," "St. Elmo Hall," or merely "Elmo" ...

and delivered speeches in support of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

Fourierism Fourierism () is the systematic set of economic, political, and social beliefs first espoused by French intellectual Charles Fourier (1772–1837). Based upon a belief in the inevitability of communal associations of people who worked and lived to ...

and in opposition to

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, once delivering a rebuttal to visiting lecturer

Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney. According to George Lewis Ruffin, a Black attorney, Phillips was seen by many Blacks as "the one whi ...

. The subject and manner of his speeches were sometimes controversial, and Cox had some difficulty fitting in with Yankee society. He wrote home, "There are some monstrous mean fellows among the Yankees." In general, however, he was highly praised for his wit, work ethic, and energy. Among his friends were Franklin J. Dickman,

James Burrill Angell James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan, from 1871 to 1909. He represented the transition from sma ...

, and future Chief Justice of the

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the Supreme court, court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by ...

Thomas Durfee. He graduated in 1846 and returned to Ohio.

Early career

Legal career

As a student, Cox read legal treatises in his spare time, including Blackstone's ''Commentaries'' and William Cruise's ''Digest of the Laws of England Respecting Real Property''. Upon returning to Ohio, Cox continued his study of law, first in the offices of Judge C.W. Searle, and then with Judge Convers. In Judge Convers's office, Cox's fellow student was future Governor of Ohio

George Hoadly George Hoadly (July 31, 1826August 26, 1902) was a Democratic politician. He served as the 36th governor of Ohio. Biography Hoadly was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 31, 1826. As the son of George Hoadley and Mary Ann Woolsey Hoadley ...

. He completed his studies under Vachel Worthington in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. After admittance to the Ohio bar, Cox formed a partnership with

George E. Pugh George Ellis Pugh (November 28, 1822July 19, 1876) was a United States Democratic Party, Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate from 1855 to 1861. Early life Pugh was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was ...

, who later represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate.

Journalism

While on his honeymoon in Europe in 1851, Cox wrote "A Buckeye Abroad," a collection of letters about his travels. It was greeted with praise, leading Cox to abandon the law for the field of journalism. In 1853, he purchased a controlling interest in the ''Ohio Statesman'', a Democratic newspaper in Columbus, Ohio. He became its editor and engaged, as was typical of newspaper men of the time, in political activity. As a young editor (and as an erstwhile writer at Brown), Cox expounded some of his political beliefs, including his opposition to the American System of the Whig Party and support for

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

Entry to politics

In 1853, Ohio Democratic State Committee chairman

Washington McLean Washington McLean (May 1816 – December 8, 1890) was an American businessman of Scottish ancestry best known as the owner of the ''Cincinnati Enquirer'' newspaper. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1848 Washington McLean and his brother S.B.W. McLe ...

resigned on the condition that Cox be his successor. As Party chair, Cox was tasked with managing the 1853 campaign of William Medill for Governor. Medill was elected by an overwhelming majority, launching Cox as a rising star in Ohio politics. He was summoned to meet President Franklin Pierce. In 1855, Pierce offered Cox the position of Secretary of Legation at the

Court of St. James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

, but Cox declined and requested to join the legation to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. He set sail for Peru but fell ill, returned to the United States, and resigned his commission.

U.S. Representative from Ohio

In 1856, Cox accepted the Democratic nomination to represent the Columbus region in the U.S. House of Representatives. He narrowly defeated Republican Samuel Galloway to win the seat. In his first term, Cox chaired the committee on Revolutionary Claims. On December 16, 1857, Cox delivered the maiden speech in the newly completed House chamber in the south wing of the Capitol building. The bold speech positioned Cox squarely as a supporter of Senator

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

's "popular sovereignty," as opposed to President James Buchanan and the proposed

Lecompton constitution The Lecompton Constitution (1859) was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas. Named for the city of Lecompton where it was drafted, it was strongly pro-slavery. It never went into effect. History Purpose The Lecompton C ...

for Kansas. Cox's speech was credited as helping sink the Lecompton constitution and leading to the eventual admission of Kansas as a free state. Buchanan had his revenge by removing Cox's friend from the office of Postmaster of Columbus. Cox was re-elected in 1858 by a slightly larger majority. He remained an opponent of the Buchanan administration and an ally of Senator Douglas amid growing sectional and political divide in Congress. In 1860, despite growing divisions and the election of Abraham Lincoln, Cox expanded his majority again, in a rematch with Galloway. As Southern states began to secede in the winter of 1860–61, Cox issued a plea for unity and caution. When Senator Douglas died in 1861, Cox delivered a eulogy to him in the House.

Civil War

Initially, Cox resolved to sustain the Lincoln administration "in every constitutional endeavor to put down the rebellion." However, he opposed "that abolition policy which sought to convert this holy war for the defence of the government and the union into a mere anti-slavery party war." In 1862, Cox's already-Republican district was redrawn to become even more Republican, but he defeated

Samuel Shellabarger Samuel Shellabarger (18 May 1888 – 21 March 1954) was an American educator and author of both scholarly works and best-selling historical novels. Born 18 May 1888 in Washington, D.C., Shellabarger was orphaned in infancy, upon the death of bot ...

by a small majority. In 1863, Cox opposed the

to abolish slavery, on the grounds that peace was near at hand and the amendment would scuttle negotiations. "As slavery was already dead by the bullet, I figured it would be better to stop the bloodshed," he told a crowd seven years later. That mattered more than "the mere empty, abstract ceremonial of burying the dead corpse of slavery." In 1864, Cox took an active part in the campaign against Lincoln's re-election, denouncing Republicans for allegedly supporting miscegenation. He was defeated for reelection by Shellabarger in a landslide, largely by the vote of Union soldiers. Six weeks after he left Congress, the Civil War was over and President Lincoln was assassinated. Despite his steadfast opposition to abolition efforts, Cox remained on positive terms with Lincoln months before his assassination and was praised in later years by Lincoln's Secretary of State

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

as a member of the loyal opposition.

U.S. Representative from New York

After leaving Congress, Cox moved to New York City to return to the practice of law, in partnership with Charlton Thomas Lewis. Cox published memoirs of his time in Congress, titled ''Eight Years in Congress''. During the

impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States, was held in the United States Senate and concluded with acquittal on three of eleven charges before adjourning ''sine die'' without a verdict on the remaining char ...

in the winter of 1867–68, Cox was summoned to Washington to lobby the decisive vote, Senator

John B. Henderson John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826April 12, 1913) was a United States senator from Missouri and a co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For his role in the investigation of the Whiskey Ring, he was cons ...

of Missouri, against impeachment. Cox and Henderson were on close terms. Henderson did vote against impeachment, though Cox disclaimed any credit to his own influence.

Reconstruction

In 1868, the Democratic Party selected Cox as the nominee for Congress to represent Greenwich Village, Chelsea (Manhattan), Chelsea, and the West Village (Manhattan), West Village. He won the general election in a landslide. Tammany Hall elected Cox to Congress in New York, and it kept him there, but he was never the subject of serious accusations of corruption. "Mr. Cox is ... almost the only honest man I know who passed through a portion of the Tweed Ring period," another politician said later. After a second trip to Europe, limited to the Mediterranean coast by his ill health, Cox returned to find Congress dominated by the issue of Reconstruction. Cox supported reconciliation with the South and the restoration of voting rights for Confederate veterans. In 1869, he introduced a general amnesty bill to this effect, but failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority by two votes. In 1870, Cox defeated Horace Greeley, the editor of the ''New York Tribune'', by 1,000 votes. Cox spent much of the next Congress in an effort to abolish the test oath system, which required all civil servants and military officers to swear they had not engaged in disloyal conduct during the War. The effort succeeded as to members of Congress but not other offices. A complete repeal of the test oath was not passed un 1884. In 1872, Cox was nominated by a fusion ticket of Democrats and anti-Ulysses S. Grant, Grant Republicans for U.S. Representative at-large. Horace Greeley, his opponent in 1870, was the ticket's presidential nominee, putting Cox in the unusual position of stumping for his most recent rival. Cox lost the election to Republican Lyman Tremain. In the lame duck session, Cox unsuccessfully opposed a salary increase for members of Congress and returned the excess salary ($4,812) he received to the Treasury. Soon after his departure from Congress, U.S. Representative James Brooks (politician), James Brooks died, leaving a vacant seat along the East River, stretching from the Lower East Side to Murray Hill, Manhattan, Murray Hill. Cox consented to be nominated in the special election, and won in a landslide. Ultimately, Cox did not miss a single day of the Congressional session. Along with Pennsylvania Representative Samuel J. Randall, he led the opposition to the civil rights for freedmen. He was returned to the House from a slightly redrawn Lower East Side district in a landslide in 1874.

House leadership

The 1874 House elections gave the Democrats their first post-War majority. Cox, who had been nominated for the position as a matter of party honors under Republican majorities, was one of three candidates for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Speaker of the House. The other candidates were Samuel Randall and Michael C. Kerr. Cox drew enthusiastic support from the West and South, but ultimately finished third behind Kerr and Randall. As consolation and in recognition of his years of service, Cox was named Chairman of the powerful Committee on Banking and Currency in 1875. Early in 1876, Speaker Kerr was seized with fatal illness and Cox served as acting Speaker on occasion. Cox was ultimately named Speaker ''pro tem'' on June 19. However, Cox left the capital to serve as a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention, and Milton Sayler was chosen to fill the Speakership. When Cox returned, Sayler did not relinquish the chair. After Kerr's death, Randall was elected his successor in the 45th Congress and Cox was additionally placed at the head of the committee on the Tenth Census. In the contested election of 1876, Cox loyally supported Democrat Samuel Tilden over Rutherford B. Hayes and implicitly gave his support to a special committee bill to investigate irregularities in Hayes states, but gave a speech urging the House to accept Hayes as the victor. In 1881, Cox took an extended global trip. He first visited London, attending the funeral of Benjamin Disraeli and the House of Commons, where the debate over Charles Bradlaugh#Parliament, the Bradlaugh case further reinforced his opposition to the test oath. Later, he traveled to Constantinople and Jerusalem. Cox was in Tarsus, Mersin, Tarsus when he learned of the assassination of President James A. Garfield via telegram. Upon his return to the United States, Cox became active in the movements for civil service reform and restrictions on foreign contract labor.

U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire

In 1884, New York Governor Grover Cleveland was elected President, the first Democrat since Buchanan. In May 1885, Cleveland nominated Cox as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Cox resigned his seat to accept appointment, citing the frantic pace of Congress and his continued minor role. Before departing for Constantinople, he published a second memoir, ''Three Decades of Federal Legislation''. Arriving in Ottoman Constantinople, Constantinople on August 1, Cox was received by the Sultan's Foreign Ministry (Ottoman Empire), Foreign Minister. Cox spent much of his time touring the eastern Mediterranean, including the Nile River and Princes' Islands.

Return to Congress

After serving for a year as Minister, Cox resigned in 1886, citing homesickness and a desire to return to domestic politics. He ran for Congress to fill the vacant seat left by Joseph Pulitzer, once again representing the Lower East Side (specifically the area known today as Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City). He had, once again, missed a minimal amount of Congressional service, and Representative Cummings claimed that Cox was thus the first man elected twice to the same Congress (the 49th). During his last term, he was Democratic Caucus Chairman of the United States House of Representatives, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and once again served as chair of the Census Committee. He actively supported measures to irrigate the western United States, drawing on desert aridity he had witnessed as Minister. He broke with his party in supporting the annexation of new Western states in 1889. In 1888, Cox declined to run for Mayor of New York. He ran instead for Congress and won. However, he died before the 51st Congress met.

Politics and legacy

(King1893NYC) pg184 COX STATUE, IN ASTOR PLACE

Cox was an advocate against the persecution of the Jews worldwide and in Russia and Germany in particular and of the Irish, working to free Irish prisoners of England. He advocated for the annexation of Cuba as early as 1859. He was a backer of the Life Saving Service, later merged into the United States Coast Guard. He was also known as the "letter carriers' friend" because of his support for paid benefits and a 40-hour work week for United States Postal Service, U.S. Post Office employees. In 1891, grateful postal workers raised $10,000 to erect a statue of Cox by sculptor Louise Lawson in New York City. It was originally placed near his home on East 12th Street but was later moved to its present location in Tompkins Square Park. It depicts Cox orating and has been criticized as a poor likeness."Tompkins Square Park: Samuel Sullivan Cox"
New York City Department of Parks & Recreation website.Wirth, Carolyn
"Louise Lawson"
''To Work As a Sculptor'', September 3, 2010. The statue became controversial in 2020. Cox wrote several books including ''Why We Laugh,'' ''A Buckeye Abroad'' (1852), ''Eight years in Congress, from 1857 to 1865'' (1865) and ''Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 1855-1885'' (1885). His colleagues appreciated him most for his ready sense of humor, usually gentle rather than cutting. Indeed, some of them thought that his joking quality may have kept him from becoming Speaker of the House, because, for all his hard work and studious habits, he was not taken seriously. "In his political action he seemed more anxious to annoy his opponents than to extinguish them," Congressman George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts wrote, in a typical dismissal. "His speeches were short, pointed and entertaining. He was a favorite with the House, but his influence upon its action was very slight. Those who acquire and retain power are the earnest and persistent men. When Cox had made his speech and expended his jokes he was content. The fate of a measure did not much disturb or even concern him." Cox once whimsically suggested that those supporting a high protective tariff duty on foreign coal should likewise lay a heavy duty on the sun, as a dangerous competitor in warming people up. Others who served longer with him realized that Cox also had the grit and parliamentary skill to make a formidable adversary in debate. Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed said, "in action he was a whole skirmish line, and has covered more movements of the Democratic party, and led it out of more parliamentary pitfalls than any of its orators and all its leaders put together."

Personal life

Cox married Julia A. Buckingham on October 11, 1849. The two first met aboard a stage coach on Cox's way to Brown and became reacquainted upon his return to Zanesville as a lawyer. They honeymooned in Europe from May to September 1851 and saw the Great Exhibition. Julia wrote many of his speeches. Cox's nickname "Sunset" came from a florid description of the sunset he wrote as a young editor at the ''Ohio Statesman'', on May 19, 1853. The sobriquet was used by some to insinuate Cox was a chronic exaggerator. James H. Baker (politician), James H. Baker, then the editor of the ''Scioto Gazette'', a Whig Party (United States), Whig newspaper in Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, gave him the title "by reason of a highly wrought and sophomoric editorial on a flaming sunset after a great storm." Cox was an avid traveler and kept detailed accounts of his trips abroad.

Publications

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References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
New York City Parks & Recreation page for Cox statueMuseum of Hoaxes, "The Miscegenation Hoax"
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Samuel Sullivan 1824 births 1889 deaths Brown University alumni Ohio lawyers Ambassadors of the United States to the Ottoman Empire Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Politicians from Zanesville, Ohio Editors of Ohio newspapers New York (state) lawyers Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Ohio University alumni 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century American diplomats Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians Journalists from Ohio 19th-century American lawyers