64 Facts About Garret Hobart

Garret Augustus Hobart was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899, under President William McKinley.

Garret Hobart was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore, and grew up in nearby Marlboro.

Garret Hobart attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, and read law under Paterson-based attorney Socrates Tuttle.

Garret Hobart both studied with Tuttle and married his daughter, Jennie.

Garret Hobart served in local governmental positions, and then successfully ran for office as a Republican, serving in both the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was elected Speaker in 1874, and the New Jersey Senate, where he became its president in 1881.

Garret Hobart was a longtime state and national party official; during the 1896 Republican National Convention, New Jersey delegates to the convention were determined to nominate him for vice president.

Garret Hobart invited Alger to his New Jersey summer home and broke the news to the secretary, who submitted his resignation to McKinley on his return to Washington.

Garret Hobart died of heart disease in 1899, aged 55, causing the office of the Vice President to be vacant for the remainder of McKinley's first term as, until 1967, there was no constitutional provision to fill a vacancy in the vice presidency.

Garret Augustus Hobart was born on June 3,1844, in Long Branch, New Jersey, to Addison Willard Hobart and the former Sophia Vanderveer.

Addison Garret Hobart came to New Jersey, where he taught school in Bradevelt, a small hamlet in Marlboro Township, New Jersey.

Garret Hobart's mother was descended from 17th-century Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam in present-day New York City, who later moved to Long Island and then ultimately to New Jersey.

The couple had three children who survived infancy; Garret Hobart was the second of three boys.

Garret Hobart then attended Middletown Point Academy, later known as the Glenwood Institute, a boarding school in Matawan, New Jersey.

Garret Hobart's parents felt he was too young to attend college, so he remained at home for a year, where he studied and worked part-time at the Bradevelt School, the same institution that employed his father.

Garret Hobart supported himself by working as a bank clerk in Paterson; he later became director of the same bank.

Garret Hobart was admitted to the bar in 1866; he became a counsellor-at-law in 1871 and a master in chancery in 1872.

In 1866, the year he became a lawyer, Garret Hobart was appointed grand jury clerk for Passaic County, New Jersey.

In 1872, Garret Hobart ran as a Republican for the New Jersey General Assembly from Passaic County's third legislative district.

Garret Hobart was easily elected, winning nearly two-thirds of the vote.

At the time, members of the General Assembly were elected annually, and Garret Hobart was successful in winning re-election the following year, although his margin of victory was cut in half.

Garret Hobart was elected to a three-year term and he was re-elected in 1879.

Garret Hobart was rarely seen in a courtroom; his official biography for the 1896 campaign acknowledged that "he has actually appeared in court a smaller number of times than, perhaps, any lawyer in Passaic County".

Garret Hobart had a lucrative business acting as court-appointed receiver of bankrupt railroads, reorganizing them and restoring them to fiscal health.

Garret Hobart often invested heavily in them; Hobart's success made him wealthy.

Garret Hobart worked well with others and was noted for tact and charm.

Hatfield states that the reason why Garret Hobart chose not to move from state to national politics prior to 1896 was a reluctance to leave a comfortable life and successful law practice in Paterson.

Garret Hobart was chairman of the New Jersey Republican Committee from 1880 to 1891, resigning the position as he became more deeply involved in Republican National Committee affairs.

Garret Hobart was New Jersey's representative on the national committee after 1884, and rose to become vice chairman.

Garret Hobart evaded the question, but Jennie Hobart believed the conversation to have been the first of a chain of events which elevated her husband to national office.

The election of New Jersey's first Republican governor since the 1860s led to speculation in the newspapers that Garret Hobart would be a candidate for vice president.

Garret Hobart was an attractive candidate as he was from a swing state, and the Griggs victory showed that Republicans could hope to win New Jersey's electoral votes, which they had not done since 1872.

Historian Stanley Jones, in his study of the 1896 election, stated that Garret Hobart stopped off in Canton, Ohio, McKinley's hometown, en route to the convention in St Louis.

Mr Garret Hobart was well known to Mr Hanna, and in all probability, his nomination had been scheduled for some time.

Garret Hobart was a lawyer and a businessman with an exclusively local reputation; and if he did little to strengthen the ticket he did nothing to weaken it.

Garret Hobart described his subsequent first-ballot nomination for vice president as a tribute from his friends, but Hatfield noted, "it came equally as a tribute from [Hanna, who] wanted a ticket to satisfy the business interests of America, and Garret Hobart, a corporate lawyer, fit that requirement perfectly".

City officials, feeling they had insufficient fireworks to properly honor Garret Hobart, obtained more from New York City.

On June 30,1896, Garret Hobart journeyed by train to Canton, where he was met at the station by his running mate.

Garret Hobart only remained in Canton a few hours before returning east.

Garret Hobart was a strong supporter of the gold standard; and insisted on it remaining a major part of the Republican campaign even in the face of Bryan's surge.

Together with Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay, Garret Hobart ran the McKinley campaign's New York City office, often making the short journey from Paterson for strategy meetings.

On November 3,1896, the voters cast their ballots in most states; a nervous Garret Hobart spent the day at his office.

Garret Hobart spent much of the four months between election and inauguration reading about the vice presidency, preparing for the move, and winding down some business affairs.

Garret Hobart did not resign from the boards of corporations which would not have business before the federal government.

Soon Senator Don Cameron of Pennsylvania, who was retiring from office at the time of Garret Hobart's inauguration, offered them the lease of the house he owned at 21 Madison Place, diagonally across Pennsylvania Avenue from the Executive Mansion, as the White House was then known.

Jennie Garret Hobart often substituted for the first lady at receptions and other events, and was a close companion, visiting her daily.

Garret Hobart became a close adviser to McKinley and his Cabinet members, although he was not called upon to attend Cabinet meetings.

McKinley sought delay, hoping to settle the disputes peacefully, but in April 1898, Garret Hobart told the President that the Senate would act against Spain whether McKinley liked it or not.

Garret Hobart was more assertive as US Senate president than his predecessors had been.

Garret Hobart was constant in his attendance at the Senate; one onlooker called him a "chronic audience".

Vice President Garret Hobart cast his tie-breaking vote only once, using it to defeat an amendment which would have promised self-government to the Philippines, one of the possessions which the United States had taken from Spain after the war.

Hobart was instrumental in securing the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war; according to McKinley biographer H Wayne Morgan, Hobart was "almost the president's alter ego, [turning] every screw with his legendary politeness".

One post which Garret Hobart refused to relinquish upon his inauguration was his position as one of three Joint Traffic Association arbiters.

An October 1897 Supreme Court decision signaled that the JTA was likely to be found in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Garret Hobart resigned as arbiter in November 1897.

Garret Hobart was a major investor in the Ramapo Water Company; he had interests in many New York and New Jersey water utilities.

Garret Hobart continued his responsibilities in the US Senate, but nearly collapsed after delivering an address closing the session.

Garret Hobart accompanied the president on a vacation trip to Hanna's winter home in Thomasville, Georgia, but quickly contracted the flu and returned to Washington, DC.

Garret Hobart rented a home in his birthplace of Long Branch, New Jersey, which was then an upscale Jersey Shore resort.

Garret Hobart's condition worsened in the days following Alger's visit, and he became bedridden.

Garret Hobart was laid to rest at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson after a large public funeral, attended by President McKinley and many high government officials.

Garret Hobart's wife purchased eleven plots adjoining the family plot to accommodate the structure.

Garret Hobart significantly expanded the powers of the vice presidency, becoming a presidential adviser, and taking a leadership role as president of the Senate.

Connolly finds Garret Hobart to be very much a man of his times:.

Garret Hobart represented everything Progressives hated: a railroad advocate when railroads became America's most mistrusted industry, a corporate attorney who facilitated the agglomeration of capital when the public revolted against monopolies and trusts, a financial operator who used his political insight to capture lucrative business opportunities, and a national leader who moved easily between the worlds of political pull and economic power.

Jennie Garret Hobart later chose the prominent New Jersey sculptor Frank Edwin Elwell, and Elwell completed it in 1901.