Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling posed for this daguerreotype around the time of his marriage to Julia Seymour and at the start of his lengthy political career. A skillful orator, Conkling first gained national prominence in 1852 while campaigning for Whig presidential candidate Winfield Scott. He supported the rise of the fledgling Republican Party and proved instrumental in building its organization in New York State. After winning election to Congress from Utica (1858), he served three terms before securing a Senate seat (1867). Strongly opposed to the Reconstruction policies of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Conkling saw his influence wane during Hayes’s administration (1877–81).