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Levi Parsons Morton
Image:LeviParsonsMorton.jpg <small/>
22nd Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893
Preceded by	Thomas A. Hendricks
Succeeded by	Adlai E. Stevenson
President	Benjamin Harrison
Born	May 16, 1824 Shoreham, Vermont
Died	May 16, 1920 Rhinebeck, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Anna Livingston Reade Street
Religion	Congregationalist

Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824–May 16, 1920) was a Representative from New York and the 22nd Vice President of the United States.

Morton was born in Shoreham, Addison County, Vermont. His father was the Rev. Daniel O. Morton, a Congregationalist minister of old New England stock. He left school early and worked as a clerk in a general store in Enfield, Massachusetts, taught school in Boscawen, New Hampshire, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Hanover, New Hampshire, moved to Boston, entered the dry-goods business in New York City and engaged in banking there. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1876 to the 45th Congress. He was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes as honorary commissioner to the Paris Exhibition of 1878.

Morton was elected as a Republican to the 46th and 47th Congresses, serving from March 4, 1879, until his resignation, effective March 21, 1881. Presidential candidate James Garfield asked him to be his vice presidential candidate in 1880, but Morton turned down the offer. If he had accepted and history held true, this would have meant Morton would have become the twenty-first President after Garfield's assassination. He asked to be Minister to Britain or France instead. He was United States Minister to France from 1881 to 1885. He was very popular in France, helping commercial relations run smoothly between the two countries during his term, and he hammered the first nail in the construction of the Statue of Liberty. Morton was elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Benjamin Harrison, serving from March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893.

Levi Morton was Governor of New York from 1895 to 1897. Following his public career, he became a real estate investor. He died in Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York, on his 96th birthday, the only Vice President to have died on their birth date. He is interred in the Rhinebeck Cemetery.

The Village of Morton Grove, Illinois is named after Morton. He provided the funding necessary to allow Miller's Mill (now Lincoln Avenue) to pass through the upstart neighborhood, and provide goods to trade and sell. Morton Grove was incorporated in December of 1895. Morton was the second-longest lived Vice President, living to be exactly 96 years old. Only John Nance Garner lived longer. Morton even survived five of his successors in the vice presidency, Adlai E. Stevenson, Garret Hobart, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles W. Fairbanks and James S. Sherman. Gerald Ford would have to live to July 14, 2009 to surpass Morton for second place.

[edit] References

National Contest, Containing Portraits and Biographies of Our National Favorites, Darling Bros. & Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1888.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Levi P. Morton birthplace
• Levi P. Morton at Find A Grave

Preceded by: Benjamin A. Willis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 11th congressional district March 4, 1879 – March 21, 1881	Succeeded by: Roswell P. Flower
Preceded by: Edward F. Noyes	United States Minister to France 1881–1885	Succeeded by: Robert Milligan McLane
Preceded by: John A. Logan	Republican Party Vice Presidential candidate 1888 (won)	Succeeded by: Whitelaw Reid
Preceded by: Thomas A. Hendricks	Vice President of the United States March 4, 1889–March 4, 1893	Succeeded by: Adlai E. Stevenson
Preceded by: Roswell P. Flower	Governor of New York 1895–1897	Succeeded by: Frank S. Black

Vice Presidents of the United States of America <td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Vice presidential seal.jpg </td>

Adams • Jefferson • Burr • Clinton • Gerry • Tompkins • Calhoun • Van Buren • R Johnson • Tyler • Dallas • Fillmore • King • Breckinridge • Hamlin • A Johnson • Colfax • Wilson • Wheeler • Arthur • Hendricks • Morton • Stevenson • Hobart • Roosevelt • Fairbanks • Sherman • Marshall • Coolidge • Dawes • Curtis • Garner • Wallace • Truman • Barkley • Nixon • L Johnson • Humphrey • Agnew • Ford • Rockefeller • Mondale • Bush • Quayle • Gore • Cheney

United States Republican Party Vice Presidential Nominees
Dayton • Hamlin • Johnson • Colfax • Wilson • Wheeler • Arthur • Logan • Morton • Reid • Hobart • Roosevelt • Fairbanks • Sherman • Butler • Fairbanks • Coolidge • Dawes • Curtis • Knox • McNary • Bricker • Warren • Nixon • Lodge • Miller • Agnew • Dole • Bush • Quayle • Kemp • Cheney

Governors of New York <td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of New York.svg </td>

G Clinton • Jay • G Clinton • Lewis • Tompkins • Tayler • D Clinton • Yates • D Clinton • Pitcher • Van Buren • Throop • Marcy • Seward • Bouck • Wright • Young • Fish • Hunt • Seymour • Clark • King • Morgan • Seymour • Fenton • Hoffman • JA Dix • Tilden • Robinson • Cornell • Cleveland • Hill • Flower • Morton • Black • T Roosevelt • Odell • Higgins • Hughes • White • J Dix • Sulzer • Glynn • Whitman • Smith • Miller • Smith • F Roosevelt • Lehman • Poletti • Dewey • Harriman • Rockefeller • Wilson • Carey • Cuomo • Pataki • Spitzer(elect)

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