Nelson W. Aldrich

For the architect Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1911–1986), his grandson, seeCampbell, Aldrich & Nulty.For the American editor and author, his great-grandson, seeNelson W. Aldrich Jr..

Nelson W. Aldrich
United States Senator fromRhode Island
In office October 5, 1881 – March 3, 1911
Preceded by	Ambrose Burnside
Succeeded by	Henry F. Lippitt
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromRhode Island's1stdistrict
In office March 4, 1879 – October 4, 1881
Preceded by	Benjamin T. Eames
Succeeded by	Henry J. Spooner
Member of theRhode Island House of Representatives
In office 1875–1876
Personal details
Born	Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841-11-06)November 6, 1841 Foster, Rhode Island,U.S.
Died	April 16, 1915(1915-04-16)(aged 73) New York City,U.S.
Resting place	Swan Point Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Abigail Pearce Truman Chapman
Children	11
Alma mater	East Greenwich Academy
Profession	Businessman
Military service
Allegiance	United States Union
Branch/service	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1862
Rank	Private
Unit	10th Rhode Island Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich(/ˈɑldɹɪt͡ʃ/; November 6, 1841 – April 16, 1915) was a prominent American politician and a leader of theRepublican Partyin theUnited States Senate,where he representedRhode Islandfrom 1881 to 1911. By the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans who largely controlled the major decisions of the Senate, along withOrville H. Platt,William B. Allison,andJohn Coit Spooner.Because of his impact on national politics and central position on the pivotal Senate Finance Committee, he was referred to by the press and public alike as the "general manager of the Nation", dominatingtariffandmonetary policyin the first decade of the 20th century.

Born at Burgess Farm inFoster, Rhode Island,Aldrich served in theUnion Armyduring theAmerican Civil War.After the war, he worked his way up to become a partner in a large wholesale grocery firm and won election to theRhode Island House of Representatives.He then served a single term in theUnited States House of Representativesbefore winning election to the Senate. In the Senate, he helped to create an extensive system oftariffsthatprotectedAmerican factories and farms from foreign competition, and he was a cosponsor of thePayne–Aldrich Tariff Act.He also helped win Senate approval of the 1898Treaty of Paris,which ended theSpanish–American War.

Aldrich led the passage of theAldrich–Vreeland Act,which established theNational Monetary Commissionto study the causes of thePanic of 1907.He served as chair of that commission, which drew up the Aldrich Plan as a basis for a reform of the financial regulatory system. The Aldrich Plan strongly influenced theFederal Reserve Actof 1913, which established theFederal Reserve System.Aldrich also sponsored theSixteenth Amendment,which allowed for adirectfederal income tax.

Deeply committed to the efficiency model of theProgressive Era,he believed that his financial and trade policies would lead to greater efficiency. Reformers, however, denounced him as representative of the evils of big business. His daughterAbigailmarried American financerJohn D. Rockefeller Jr.who was the son ofStandard Oilco-founderJohn D. Rockefeller.His descendants, including namesakeNelson A. Rockefeller,became powerful figures in American politics and banking.

Early life

Aldrich was born at Burgess Farm in Foster, Rhode Island, into a middle-class family purportedly descended from noted English immigrantsJohn Winthrop,William Wickenden,andRoger Williams.His branch passed through generations of declining circumstances. His father was Anan E. Aldrich, a mill hand, and mother Abby Burgess. He attended public schools inEast Killingly, Connecticutand theEast Greenwich Academy,a boarding school in Rhode Island.

Early career

Abigail Pearce Truman Chapman

The signature of Nelson W. Aldrich

Aldrich's first job was clerking for the largest wholesale grocer in the state, where he worked his way up to become a partner in the firm.

He served briefly in theUnion Armyduring theAmerican Civil Warwhen he enlisted as a private in Company D of the10th Rhode Island Infantryon May 26, 1862. Aldrich's company served for three months atFort DeRussy,which was part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. Aldrich was mustered out of service with the regiment on September 1, 1862.

On October 9, 1866, he married Abigail Pearce Truman "Abby" Chapman, a wealthy woman with impressive ancestry. They had a total of eleven children.

Aldrich began to debate at the local public lecture hall on various political issues of the era. In 1872, after the loss of a child and in the midst of health issues, Aldrich took a five-month tour of Europe and renewed his life's ambition. Aldrich became involved with politics and with the help of local business people in Providence, Aldrich also became a director of a small bank.

Early political career

By 1877, Nelson had a major effect on state politics, even before his election to theUnited States Congress.He served as a member of the Providence City Council from 1869 to 1875 and as its president in 1872 and 1873, he then was elected as a Republican to theRhode Island House of Representatives,from 1875 to 1876, and served as Speaker of the House in 1876.

U.S. Senate

In 1878 the Republican bosses of Rhode Island endorsed him for the U.S. House of Representatives; he won and served one term, 1879 to 1881. In 1881 he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Rhode Island legislature. He served in the Senate for 30 years from 1881 to 1911. He was the longest-serving United States Senator from Rhode Island before the 36-year tenure ofClaiborne Pellin the late 20th century.

His long tenure in the Senate was assisted by Rhode Island's restriction of the office to property owners and native-born citizens willing to pay a poll tax, and later, by a legislature that gerrymandered in favor of small Republican towns. Aldrich occupied himself withnational tariffissues when arriving in the Senate, and supported the tariff as vital to business owners and ordinary citizens alike. Alrich actively sought out the opinion of business leaders and became friendly with theSugar Trust.Aldrich sometimes even secured the tariff rate to the amount thatTheodore Havemeyer,a Sugar Trust member, requested.

By the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans who largely controlled the major decisions of the Senate, along withOrville H. Plattof Connecticut,William B. Allisonof Iowa andJohn Coit Spoonerof Wisconsin. Aldrich's main power base was his chairmanship of theSenate Finance Committeewhich oversaw bank regulation and monetary policy.In the early 1890s, Aldrich was considering leaving the Senate, however, a businessman from Rhode Island, Marsden J. Perry, convinced him to stay by making Aldrich a partner in a plan to consolidate and electrify the state's trolley systems. Aldrich soon became a millionaire. Aldrich was opposed to backing currency with silver and was involved with convincing McKinley to run on a gold platform in 1896.

In 1906 Aldrich sold his interest in the Rhode Island street railway system to theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad,whose president,Charles Sanger Mellen,wasWall StreetbankerJ. P. Morgan's loyal ally.

National finance

Reformers hated and feared Senator Aldrich for killing reforms disliked by big business. 1906Puckcartoon.

In his subsequent career in the senate he was prominent in the discussion of the great financial questions that arose in Congress.

The panic of 1907 led to the passage of theAldrich–Vreeland Actin 1908, which established theNational Monetary Commission,sponsored and headed by Aldrich. After issuing a series of 30 reports, this commission drew up the Aldrich Plan, forming the basis for theFederal Reservesystem.

As co-author of thePayne–Aldrich Tariff Actof 1909, Aldrich removed restrictive import duties on fine art, which enabled Americans to bring in very expensive European artworks that became the foundation of many leading museums.

In 1909, Aldrich introduced aconstitutional amendment to establish an income tax,although he had declared a similar measure "communistic"a decade earlier. Aldrich was quite candid about his scheme to block the House bill that had been passed, declaring to the Senate:" I shall vote for the corporation tax as a means to defeat the income tax. "

The compromise passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 318 to 14 in the House. The corporate excise tax would be levied, and the income-tax constitutional amendment would be sent out to the states for ratification—which Taft and Aldrich thought was impossible.

Taft tries to get progressive ideas into Aldrich

Aldrich also served as chairman of theSenate Republican Conference.During his Senate tenure he chaired the committees onFinance,Transportation Routes to the Seaboard,Rules,and theSelect Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia.

Federal Reserve Act

Following thePanic of 1907,Aldrich took control as chairman of the Congressionally established National Monetary Commission. A proponent ofProgressive Erathemes ofEfficiencyand scientific expertise, he led a team of experts to study the European national banks. After his trip, he came to believe that Britain, Germany and France had much superior central banking systems.He worked with several key bankers and economists, includingPaul Warburg,Abram Andrew,Frank A. Vanderlip,andHenry Davison,todesign a plan for an American central bankin 1911. This work included a trip toJekyll Islandin 1910 to finalize the details of the federal reserve banking plan.In 1913Woodrow Wilsonsigned into law theFederal Reserve Actpatterned after Aldrich's vision, creating the modern Federal Reserve System.

Foreign affairs

Aldrich opposed entry into the Spanish–American War, but supported McKinley when it began. He played a central role in winning two-thirds Senate approval of theTreaty of Paristhat ended the war, and included annexation of the Philippines.He helped frame thePlatt Amendmentof 1901, which defined the American role in Cuba. He supported the Panama Canal, but was critical of Roosevelt's general Caribbean policy.

In 1906 Aldrich and other American financiers invested heavily in mines and rubber in the Belgian Congo. They supported Belgium's KingLeopold II,who had imposed very harsh labor conditions in the colony.

Family prominence

Aldrich's homein Providence, aNational Historic Landmark

His daughterAbigail Greene "Abby" Aldrichwas a philanthropistwho married American financer and philanthropistJohn Davison Rockefeller, Jr.who was the only son ofStandard Oilco-founderJohn D. Rockefeller.Their second sonNelson Aldrich Rockefellerwas a four-term Governor of New York who campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968, and was named Vice President of the United States under PresidentGerald Fordby the Congress in 1974.Aldrich's sonRichard S. Aldrichserved in Congress from 1923 to 1933,and his sonWinthrop Williams Aldrichserved as chairman of theChase National Bank.His grandsonDavid Rockefellerwould eventually become the chairman and would become a leading banker.American film director, writer, and producerRobert Aldrichwas his grandson.

Interests

Portrait of Senator Aldrich

Aldrich was very active in theFreemasonsand was Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.

He developed an elaboratecountry estatein the Warwick Neck section ofWarwick, Rhode Island.The estate is now known as theAldrich Mansionand is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rhode Island.

Death and burial

He died on April 16, 1915, in New York City, and was buried inSwan Point Cemeteryin Providence, Rhode Island.

Legacy

TheNelson W. Aldrich Houseon 110 Benevolent Street in Providence serves as the headquarters for theRhode Island Historical Society.

The Aldrich Middle School inWarwick, Rhode Islandis named in his honor.

Aldrich Residence Hall at The University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I. is named in his honor.

Aldrich Hall at Harvard Business School in Boston, MA was made possible through a gift from John D. Rockefeller and is named in honor of his father-in-law, Nelson W. Aldrich.

Congressional committee assignments

	Committee	Congresses	Notes
House	District of Columbia	46
Senate	District of Columbia	47–48
	Education and Labor	47–48
	Finance	47–61	Chairman(55–61)
	Steel Producing Capacity of the United States (Select)	48–49
	Transportation Routes to the Seaboard	48–55	Chairman(48–49)
	Pensions	49
	Examine the Several Branches of the Civil Service	50–51
	Rules	50–61	Chairman(50–52; 54; 55)
	Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia	53–60	Chairmanof the Select Committee, (53)
	Revolutionary Claims	53–54
	Interstate Commerce	54–61
	Cuban Relations	56–60
	Industrial Expositions	59–60
	Public Expenditures	61

References

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Johnson, Rossiter,ed. (1906). "Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth".The Biographical Dictionary of America.Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. pp. 72–73.

Further reading

• Aldrich, Nelson W. Jr.,Old Money: The Mythology of America's Upper Class,Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1988. Justification by a descendant.
• Gould, Lewis.The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate(2009) pp 17–31
• Kert, Bernice.Abby Aldrich Rockefeller:The Woman in the Family.New York:Random House,1993.
• Phillips, David Graham,"The Treason of the Senate: Aldrich, The Head of It All,"Cosmopolitan,March 1906.online,by a muckraker
• Steffens, Lincoln,"Rhode Island: A State For Sale",McClure's Magazine,February 1904, 337–353, by a muckraker
• Rosmond, James Anthony. "Nelson Aldrich, Theodore Roosevelt and the Tariff: A Study to 1905." (PhD dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1974. 7426929).
• Stephenson, Nathaniel W.Nelson W. Aldrich: A Leader In American Politics.1930. Scholarly biographyonline
• Sternstein, Jerome L. "Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth." in John A. Garraty, ed.Encyclopedia of American Biography(1974) pp 25–27
• Sternstein, Jerome L. "Corruption in the Gilded Age Senate: Nelson W. Aldrich and the Sugar Trust,"Capitol Studies6 (Spring 1978): pp. 13–37.online
• Sternstein, Jerome L. "King Leopold II, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, and the Strange Beginnings of American Economic Penetration of the Congo,"African Historical Studiesin JSTOR
• Weisman, Steven R. The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson-The Fierce Battles over Money That Transformed the Nation(Simon & Schuster, 2002).online
• Wicker, Elmus.The Great Debate on Banking Reform: Nelson Aldrich and the Origins of the Fed,Ohio State University Press, 2005.online

External links

• Works by or about Nelson W. Aldrichat theInternet Archive
• United States Congress."Nelson W. Aldrich (id: A000083)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Nelson W. Aldrich Papers from the Library of Congressavailable onFRASER– includes documents relating to the National Monetary Commission