(b. Oct. 30, 1829, Albany, N.Y., U.S.
d. April 18, 1888, New York, N.Y.) U.S. politician.
He was a lawyer, orator, and leader of the Whig Party . He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1859–65) and Senate (1867–81). As a leader of the Radical Republican s, he supported severe Reconstruction measures. Resisting efforts by Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes to achieve civil service reform, he retained control of New York state's patronage system. At the 1880 Republican convention, he led the Stalwart faction in supporting former Pres. Ulysses S. Grant . In 1881 he resigned from the Senate in a patronage dispute with Pres. James Garfield .