Hannibal Hamlin Vice President of the United States Date of Birth: 27.08.1809 Country: USA

Biography of Hannibal Hamlin

Hannibal Hamlin was born in 1809 in Paris Hill, Maine. He attended the Hebron Academy and had various jobs, including being a teacher, cook, and typesetter, before starting his career as a lawyer in 1833. Three years later, he began his political career by supporting the Democratic Party and earning a seat in the United States Senate. Hamlin became one of the fierce critics of pro-Southern policies, opposing the expansion of slavery, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In 1856, he left the Democratic Party to join the newly formed Republican Party.
The Republicans nominated Hamlin for the position of Governor of Maine, and he took office in January 1857. However, just a few weeks later, in late February, he resigned and returned to the Senate. In 1861, Hannibal Hamlin, a radical Republican, became Abraham Lincoln's running mate in the presidential election. Under his influence, the Emancipation Proclamation and the decision to enlist African Americans in the Union Army were adopted.
In the 1864 vice-presidential election, Hamlin was replaced by Andrew Johnson, a Southerner and a Democrat. After the war, Hamlin served as a senator once again and then, from 1881 to 1882, as the U.S. ambassador to Spain. He passed away in 1892.