It was a war by which the south gained, by defeat, enormous benefits, and the north, by success, secured the strength and development of the republic.
John Sherman
The Public Record
John Sherman was an American politician from Ohio who served in federal office throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State. Sherman sought the Republican presidential nomination three times, coming closest in 1888, but was never chosen by the party. Between 1861 and 1897, John Sherman served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 32 years and holds the record for longest serving senator from the state of Ohio.
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Its benefits are not confined to the United States, but extend to all the countries of America.
Its good influence will be felt by all the nations of the world, by opening to them the hope of free institutions.
It is one of the great epochs in the march of time, which, as the years go by, will be, by succeeding generations of freemen, classed in importance with the discovery of America and our Revolutionary War.
It was the good fortune of General Sherman to have been a chief actor in this great drama, and to have lived long enough after its close to have realized and enjoyed the high estimate of his services by his comrades, by his countrymen, and…
To me, his brother, it is a higher pride to know and to say that in all the walks of private life--as a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a soldier, a comrade, or a friend--he was an honorable gentleman, without fear and without…
John Sherman belongs to the whole country, and it is no reflection upon the usefulness of any other public man to say that his retirement to private life would be the greatest strictly personal loss the nation could now maintain.
My friend has made a very eloquent speech to you, but I have come to greet you all, to thank you for the support that has been extended to me by the people of Ohio, not only by those of my political faith, but also those who have differed…
In politics there ought to be kindness and fairness.
My Fellow Republicans:--When I was invited with others to address this convention, I felt that the best speech that could be made was the convention itself.
You are here to speak the voice of Ohio in the choice of the chief officers of the state and to announce the creed of a great party.
Such bodies as this are the convenient agencies of a free people to mark out the line of march and to select their leaders.
Since that day the Republican party has abolished slavery, not only in the United States, but, by its reflected influence, in nearly all the countries of the world.
It has conducted a war of gigantic proportions with marked success, demonstrating in the strongest way the ability of a free people to maintain and preserve its government against all enemies, at home and abroad.
It has established the true theory of national authority over every citizen of the republic, without regard to state lines, and has forever put at rest the pretense of the right of secession by a state or any portion of our people.
It has placed our country, in its relations to foreign nations, in so commanding a position that none will seek a controversy with us, while empires and kingdoms profit by our example.
It has, by a policy of fostering and protecting our home industries, so diversified our productions that every article of necessity, luxury, art or refinement can be made by American labor, and the food and fruits of a temperate climate…
Under Republican policy, sometimes embarrassed but never changed, our country has become free, without a slave; strong, without standing armies or great navies; rich, with wealth better distributed, labor better paid, and equality of…
All the opportunities of life, without distinction of birth or rank or wealth, are open to all alike.
We, therefore, can honestly claim that our party has been a faithful servant of the people and is fairly entitled to their confidence and support.
We invite the strictest scrutiny into the conduct of the present Republican administration of Benjamin Harrison.
In the first place it is a clear-cut, effective measure that will make explicit the rates of duties proposed; will prevent, as far as the law can, any evasion or undervaluation.
It favors, to the extent of the duty, the domestic manufacturer, and will induce the production here of every article suited to our condition and climate.
I know, by my long experience in passing upon tariff bills, that the McKinley bill more carefully and beneficially protects the farmer in his productions than any previous measures of the kind.
And its inevitable effect in encouraging manufactures will give to the farmer the best possible market for his crops.
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