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Colfax, Schuyler
1823 - Born on March 23rd in New York City. The 17th vice president of the United States in the Republican administration of President Ulysses S. Grant.
1845 - Colfax founded the St. Joseph Valley Register, which became one of the most influential papers in the state during his 18 years as editor.
1854-1869 - In the fluctuating political situation preceding the American Civil War, he shifted from the Whig Party to the Know-Nothing Party and finally to the Republicans, who elected him to Congress. He served until the last six years as speaker of the House of Representatives.
- During Reconstruction, Colfax was a leader of the Radical Republicans and favoured extending suffrage to freedmen and disenfranchising former prominent officials of the Confederate States of America.
1872 - Elected as Grant's vice president, he failed to win renomination.
- A congressional investigation implicated him—along with other politicians—in the Crédit Mobilier Scandal, which involved illegal manipulation of construction contracts for the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.
- It was also revealed that he had accepted a $4,000 campaign contribution from a contractor who had supplied the government with envelopes while Colfax was chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads in Congress.
1885 - Died on January 13th in Mankato, Minnesota.
1845 - Colfax founded the St. Joseph Valley Register, which became one of the most influential papers in the state during his 18 years as editor.
1854-1869 - In the fluctuating political situation preceding the American Civil War, he shifted from the Whig Party to the Know-Nothing Party and finally to the Republicans, who elected him to Congress. He served until the last six years as speaker of the House of Representatives.
- During Reconstruction, Colfax was a leader of the Radical Republicans and favoured extending suffrage to freedmen and disenfranchising former prominent officials of the Confederate States of America.
1872 - Elected as Grant's vice president, he failed to win renomination.
- A congressional investigation implicated him—along with other politicians—in the Crédit Mobilier Scandal, which involved illegal manipulation of construction contracts for the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.
- It was also revealed that he had accepted a $4,000 campaign contribution from a contractor who had supplied the government with envelopes while Colfax was chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads in Congress.
1885 - Died on January 13th in Mankato, Minnesota.
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