- Samuel S. Cox
Samuel Sullivan "Sunset" Cox (born
September 30 ,1824 ,Zanesville, Ohio ; diedSeptember 10 ,1889 ,New York City ) was an American Congressman and diplomat. He represented bothOhio andNew York in theUnited States House of Representatives , and also served as United States Ambassador to theOttoman Empire .Cox was the grandson of
New Jersey Congressman James Cox. He attendedOhio University andBrown University , graduating from Brown in 1846. He practiced law in Zanesville and became the owner and editor of the "Statesman", a newspaper inColumbus, Ohio . In 1855, he was secretary of the U.S. legation toPeru .Cox was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1856, and served three terms representing
Ohio's 12th congressional district and one representing the 7th district. After giving an impassioned speech in 1864 denouncing Republicans for allegedly supportingmiscegenation (see miscegenation hoax), he was defeated for reelection and moved to New York City, where he resumed law practice. He returned to Congress after winning election in 1868 toNew York's 6th congressional district . He served two terms, was defeated for reelection in 1872 byLyman Tremain , but was appointed to the Congressional seat of James Brooks after Brooks died in office. Cox was then reelected six times.In May 1885, Cox resigned his Congressional seat to accept appointment by President
Grover Cleveland as U.S. Ambassador to theOttoman Empire , succeedingLew Wallace . After serving for a year as Ambassador, he ran for Congress yet again, in a special election to fill the term ofJoseph Pulitzer , who had resigned his seat; Cox was once again elected and served until his death on September 10, 1889. During his last term, he was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.Cox was a supporter of civil service reform and westward expansion. He was a backer of the Life Saving Service, later merged into the
United States Coast Guard . He was also known as the "letter carriers' friend" because of his support for paid benefits and a 40-hour work week for U.S. Post Office employees. In gratitude, postal workers raised $10,000 in 1891 to erect a statue to Cox inTompkins Square Park in New York.He was known as an eloquent public speaker. His nickname "Sunset" came from a particularly florid description of a sunset in one speech.
Cox wrote several books including "A Buckeye Abroad" (1852), "Eight years in Congress, from 1857 to 1865" (1865) and "Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 1855-1885" (1885).
External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000839 U.S. Congress official biography]
* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=8715 New York City Parks & Recreation page for Cox statue]
* [http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Miscegenation_Hoax/ Museum of Hoaxes, "The Miscegenation Hoax"]
* [http://publications.ohiohistory.org/ohstemplate.cfm?action=detail&Page=0019331.html&StartPage=319&EndPage=332&volume=19&newtitle=Volume%2019%20Page%20319 "Samuel Sullivan Cox: His Famous Word Picture"] , Ohio History, vol. 19, p. 331 (1910).
* [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0813872.html Columbia Encyclopedia entry]
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