John Sherman (1823-1900), American politician, was the most significant congressional figure in the development of American fiscal policy during the "gilded age."

John Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on May 10, 1823. He participated in the frantic development of his native state, working on canal improvements at the age of 14 and becoming a supervisor of canal construction at 16. He soon turned to the study of law and in 1844 was admitted to the Ohio bar. In 1854, at the age of 31, he was elected to Congress and, until 1898, served without interruption in Federal office.

Sherman maintained a moderate stance in the tense congresses of the 1850s. Although he criticized the Radical Republicans during the Civil War, in the end he voted with them. He served in the Senate after 1861. His knowledge of the complexities of currency and finance helped to make him head of the Senate Finance Committee, where in 1874 he...