George Vickers (November 19, 1801October 8, 1879), a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, was a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, serving from 1868 to 1873. He cast the deciding vote in the Senate that saved

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

from

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

. Vickers also served in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

. Vickers was born in

Chestertown, Maryland Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,532 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Kent County, the oldest county in Maryland. History Founded in 1706, Chestertown ...

, and was employed in the

Kent County, Maryland Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,198, making it the least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Chestertown. The county was named for the county of Kent in ...

clerk's office for several years. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, commencing practice in Chestertown. He also served as a major general of the Maryland State Militia during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Of his four sons, one fought for the North while a second son, Benjamin Vickers, fought in the Confederate 2nd Tennessee Regiment and was killed at the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...

. In 1864, Vickers served as presidential elector on the Democratic ticket, and was vice president of the

National Union Convention The National Union Convention (also known as the Loyalist Convention, the Southern Loyalist Convention, the National Loyalists' Loyal Union Convention, or the Arm-In-Arm Convention) was held on August 14–16, 1866, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

of Conservatives in Philadelphia in 1866. He served as a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1866 to 1867, and was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the action of the Senate in declining to permit Philip F. Thomas to qualify. Just as Vickers was named to the Senate, the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson had begun.

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...

s were trying to remove Johnson because of his moderate views on Reconstruction. Supporters of the President crossed the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

in an iceboat, woke Vickers in the middle of the night, and notified him that the Republican effort to block his election to the Senate had failed. Vickers rushed to Washington, was sworn in on March 7, 1868, and shortly after cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of President Johnson. In 1870, Vickers led southern Democrats in an effort to block the swearing-in of newly elected Senator

Hiram Rhodes Revels Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827Different sources list his birth year as either 1827 or 1822. – January 16, 1901) was an American Republican politician, minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and college administrator. Bo ...

of Mississippi, the first Black member of the Senate. Vickers argued that the decision in

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they ...

meant that Revels had only been a citizen for the two years since the Fourteenth Amendment had been ratified, and not the required nine. The Senate voted down the objection and Revels was sworn in. After his term in the Senate, which lasted until March 3, 1873, Vickers resumed the practice of law in Chestertown, and died there in 1879. He is interred in Chester Cemetery.

References

Shoreman Saves Andy Johnson - Delmarva Heritage Series
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Slavery and the Civil War: U.S. Senator George W. Vickers
" Kent County Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, George 1801 births 1879 deaths Democratic Party Maryland state senators Democratic Party United States senators from Maryland People from Chestertown, Maryland 19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly 19th-century United States senators Union military personnel United States senators who owned slaves