John Sherman (May 10, 1823 - October 22, 1900) was a Senator from Ohio and a member of the United States Cabinet. He was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and was the younger brother of the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. Their father, Charles Robert Sherman, became a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court about the time John was born, but died when John was only six years old.
Before entering politics, he practiced law, studying under an older brother and joining him as a partner in 1844. In 1848 he married a judge's daughter, Margaret Sarah Stewart. In 1848 he served as a delegate to the Whig convention that nominated Zachary Taylor for President. In 1852 he again served as a convention delegate, at the Baltimore convention that nominated Winfield Scott. He served in the House of Representatives from 1855 to 1861.
He was first elected to a term in the Senate beginning 1861, and served until 1877, when he resigned to join the Cabinet.
He served as Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of President Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1881.
He sought the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1880, hoping to become a compromise candidate between Ulysses S. Grant, who was being promoted for a third term, and James G. Blaine. However, his campaign manager, Representative and Senator-elect James A. Garfield, received the nomination instead. Sherman returned to the Senate, taking the seat to which the Ohio legislature had originally elected Garfield, replacing Allen G. Thurman, in 1881, serving until 1897, when he resigned once more to join the Cabinet. He served as chair of the Senate Republican Conference, 1884-1885 and 1891-1897.
President William McKinley appointed Sherman as his Secretary of State on assuming office, and Sherman served in that position from 1897 to 1898.
Mr. Sherman vehemently opposed the income tax proposal of 1894: "In a republic like ours, where all men are equal, this attempt to array the rich against the poor or the poor against the rich is socialism, communism, devilism."
He died in Washington, D.C.
Sherman is best known for the Sherman Antitrust Act, of which he was the chief author.
Preceded by: Salmon P. Chase United States Senator (Class 3) from Ohio 1861-1877 Succeeded by: Stanley Matthews Preceded by: Lot M. Morrill United States Secretary of the Treasury 1877-1881 Succeeded by: William Windom Preceded by: Allen G. Thurman United States Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 1881-1897 Succeeded by: Marcus A. Hanna Preceded by: George F. Edmunds President pro tempore of the United States Senate December 7, 1885-February 26, 1887 Succeeded by: John James Ingalls Preceded by: Richard Olney United States Secretary of State 1897-1898 Succeeded by: William R. Day United States Secretaries of the Treasury Hamilton • Wolcott • Dexter • Gallatin • Campbell • Dallas • Crawford • Rush • Ingham • McLane • Duane • Taney • Woodbury • Ewing • Forward • Spencer • Bibb • Walker • Meredith • Corwin • Guthrie • Cobb • Thomas • Dix • Chase • Fessenden •
