James Sherman was VP for William Howard Taft.

A Little Bit About Sherman

James Schoolcraft Sherman (1852-1912) was born and raised in upstate New York – very very distantly related to General Cump and Senator John of the same name. His was a pleasant, middle-class upbringing in Utica, which included an education at Hamilton College, and a law degree.

He was diligent, hard-working, pleasant, and not one to make waves. Thus, when Republican political office beckoned, he was available – and electable. He served as Mayor of Utica for a term, then went on to a couple of terms in Congress in the 1880s. Then he lost in a Democratic sweep, but was re-elected two years later, and stayed for nearly twenty years.

Despite his safe seat and nickname “Sunny Jim” (for his genial disposition), he was never among the leadership. He was dependable, well regarded by his peers, an excellent parliamentarian, but he never introduced or sponsored substantive legislation. Few people ever heard of him. If you don’t make waves, you don’t create a wake.

Jim Sherman? Vice President?

After Republican VP-turned-POTUS Theodore Roosevelt won the office on his own in 1904, he declared he would not run for a third term. He regretted the decision, but once made, it was kept. All efforts were focused on his successor.

It was not the easiest choice. Despite TR’s genuine popularity and legacy of progressive governing, he had made powerful enemies in Congress, most of them within his own party. TR was much too progressive, radical, independent – whatever you wanted to call it – to suit the staid, uber-wealthy businessmen and their henchmen who had a substantial voice in Congress. Those die-hards, Old Guard, stand-patters – whatever you wanted to call it – liked things the way they were, especially when it came to their business interests.

TR worked very hard to find a successor to continue his progressive agenda. Finally settling on his good friend, Secretary of War William Howard Taft, who accepted the “honor” very reluctantly (he preferred the Supreme Court), the big push was to get WHT nominated and elected. The position of Vice President (despite TR’s own history) was considered a throwaway. It was ceremonial. Honorable, but toothless. Neither TR nor Taft really cared who would be the running-mate. The convention could decide.

That Taft would win in 1908 was practically a given. Most people knew him, and he was not only competent, but loveable. Even William Jennings Bryan, trying yet again (third time), knew he would strike out. Still, when the Republican convention met in Chicago, a Vice President had yet to be nominated.

The New York delegation, mostly the Old Guard, lobbied hard to convince Taft’s campaign mangers that a New Yorker would add strength to Taft, the Ohioan.

James Sherman was definitely one of the Old Guard, particularly when it came to the plethora of regulatory legislation TR introduced to protect the consumer, and even to protect business from itself. Sherman had inherited the family canning company in upstate NY, and strenuously opposed the provisions of the Pure Food and Drug Act to label weights and measures accordingly. Some re-nicknamed “Sunny Jim” to “Short-Weight Jim.”

Neither Taft nor TR were thrilled, since they hoped the convention would choose a more “progressive” Republican, but they acquiesced.

Taft won, and Jim Sherman, overwhelmed by the honor, was now Vice President.

Taft and Sherman: Bridging the Gap

The relationship between the generally progressive, but judicial minded Taft and the Old Guard Sherman was cool. But with opportunities to mix and mingle, the very likeable Taft and the very likeable Sherman warmed up to each other. And, as the  judicial Taft aligned more with the Old Guard, their relationship became even more cordial.

Taft required very little of his VP however, other than the customary ceremonial-and-related tasks. The President, like those before him, saw the position as an empty chair.

VP Sherman had a secret, however. He was a sick man and he knew it. He had Bright’s Disease, a kidney ailment, sooner or later always fatal in pre-antibiotic days. (As a “Presidential” aside, the disease was responsible for the deaths of TR’s first wife, 23-year-old Alice Lee, President Chester Alan Arthur, and within a year or two, First Lady Ellen Wilson.)

Sherman and The Election of 1912

By spring 1912, President Taft was all but certain that he might win the Republican nomination – but the rift between him and ex-POTUS Roosevelt had become a chasm, and the “Colonel” was campaigning once again – for his own nomination.

Taft was reluctant as ever, but he believed he had done an honorable and credible job in office, and needed to defend his record. He was also no fool, and knew that party division would not be in his favor, and the Democrats, whoever they might nominate would likely win. The party regulars had neither time nor inclination worry about the second spot. They asked Sherman to run on the ticket.

Sherman declined. Several times. By the summer of 1912, his health had begun to fail rapidly. But as the Republican convention heated up and boiled over, the dying man was coerced into allowing his name to be placed on the ticket.

On October 30, a week before the election, VP James Sherman died. The ballots had been printed. There was no time to reprint them. The Republican party regulars designated Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University, to “receive” the votes that Sherman would have won, and serve in office, if by some miracle he did win. There were no miracles. Nevertheless, the Taft-Sherman ticket polled around 3.5 million votes – and 8 electoral votes. The office of VP remained empty for more than 4 months.

Sources:

Barzman, Sol – Madmen & Geniuses: The Vice-Presidents of the United States – Follett Publishing, 1974

Purcell, L. Edward, (Editor) Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary – 2005, Facts on File Publishing

https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_James_Sherman.htm

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1912