William Almon Wheeler

William Almon Wheeler (1819-87), 19th vice president of the United States (1877-81), born in Malone, New York, and educated at the University of Vermont. He was admitted to the bar in 1845 and was a member of the New York legislature from 1850 to 1859. From 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877 he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. While serving in the House, Wheeler formulated an agreement to settle differences between contending political factions in a disputed 1874 Louisiana election. This so-called Wheeler Compromise prevented the breakdown of the Louisiana legislature. Wheeler was the running mate of the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes in the presidential election of 1876 and was designated vice president by the Electoral Commission of 1877.