Benjamin Butler

Benjamin Butler
Butler c. 1870–80
33rd Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 4, 1883 – January 3, 1884
Lieutenant	Oliver Ames
Preceded by	John Long
Succeeded by	George D. Robinson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts
In office March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1879
Preceded by	John K. Tarbox
Succeeded by	William A. Russell
Constituency	7th district
In office March 4, 1867 – March 4, 1875
Preceded by	John B. Alley
Succeeded by	Charles Perkins Thompson
Constituency	6th district (1867–1873) 7th district (1873–1875)
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1859
Preceded by	Arthur Bonney
Succeeded by	Ephraim Patch
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-11-05)November 5, 1818 Deerfield, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	January 11, 1893(1893-01-11) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Hildreth Cemetery
Political party	Democratic (Before 1861, 1889–1893) Republican (1861–1874)
Other political affiliations	Greenback (1874–1889)
Spouse	Sarah Hildreth ​ ​ (m. 1844; died 1876)​
Children	4, including Blanche
Education	Colby College (BA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States (Union)
Branch/service	U.S. Army (Union Army)
Rank	Major general
Commands	Department of Virginia Department of the Gulf Army of the James
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of Big Bethel Battle of Hatteras Inlet Capture of New Orleans Bermuda Hundred Campaign Battle of Port Walthall Battle of Proctor's Creek Battle of Ware Bottom Church First Battle of Petersburg Battle of Chaffin's Farm First Battle of Fort Fisher

Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a political major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War and had a leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. He was a colorful and often controversial figure on the national stage and on the Massachusetts political scene, serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and running several campaigns for governor before his election to that office in 1882.

Butler, a successful trial lawyer, served in the Massachusetts legislature as an antiwar Democrat and as an officer in the state militia. Early in the Civil War he joined the Union Army, where he was noted for his lack of military skill and his controversial command of New Orleans, which made him widely disliked in the South and earned him the "Beast" epithet. Although freeing an enemy's slaves had occurred in previous wars, Butler came up with the idea of doing so by designating them as contraband of war,^[1] an idea that the Lincoln administration endorsed and that played a role in making emancipation an official war goal. His commands were marred by financial and logistical dealings across enemy lines, some of which may have taken place with his knowledge and to his financial benefit.

Butler was dismissed from the Union Army after his failures in the First Battle of Fort Fisher, but he soon won election to the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. As a Radical Republican he considered President Johnson's Reconstruction agenda to be too weak, advocating harsher punishments of former Confederate leadership and stronger stances on civil rights reform. He was also an early proponent of the prospect of impeaching Johnson. After Johnson was impeached in early 1868, Butler served as the lead prosecutor among the House-appointed impeachment managers in the Johnson impeachment trial proceedings. Additionally, as Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, Butler authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and coauthored the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1875.

In Massachusetts, Butler was often at odds with more conservative members of the political establishment over matters of both style and substance. Feuds with Republican politicians led to his being denied several nominations for the governorship between 1858 and 1880. Returning to the Democratic fold, he won the governorship in the 1882 election with Democratic and Greenback Party support. He ran for president on the Greenback Party and the Anti-Monopoly Party tickets in 1884.