Born on October 30, 1829, in Albany, New York, Roscoe Conkling attended Mount Washington Collegiate Institute and studied law. He became a lawyer and rose quickly to the position of district attorney of Albany. Becoming a powerful figure in the new Republican Party (founded in 1854), he moved to Utica, New York, and was elected the city's mayor. In 1858, he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served from 1859 to 1863 and 1865 to 1867. A staunch supporter of Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868; see box in Andrew Johnson entry in volume 2) and the Radical Republicans, Conkling sat on the committee that drafted the Radical program of Reconstruction meant to punish Southern states following the Civil War.

By 1867, Conkling controlled the New York state Republican organization. He was elected to the Senate and became a devoted follower of President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as chief executive from 1869 to 1877. Conkling was able...