Robert C. Winthrop

Robert C. Winthrop
Winthrop c. 1855–65
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office July 30, 1850 – February 1, 1851
Appointed by	George N. Briggs
Preceded by	Daniel Webster
Succeeded by	Robert Rantoul Jr.
18th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office December 6, 1847 – March 4, 1849
Preceded by	John Davis
Succeeded by	Howell Cobb
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st district
In office November 9, 1840 – May 25, 1842
Preceded by	Abbott Lawrence
Succeeded by	Nathan Appleton
In office November 29, 1842 – July 30, 1850
Preceded by	Nathan Appleton
Succeeded by	Samuel Eliot
Personal details
Born	(1809-05-12)May 12, 1809 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 16, 1894(1894-11-16) (aged 85) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Whig
Spouses	Elizabeth Cabot Blanchard ​ ​ (m. 1832; died 1842)​ Laura Derby Welles ​ ​ (m. 1849; died 1861)​ Adele Granger Thayer ​ ​ (m. 1865; died 1892)​
Relatives	Thomas Winthrop (Father)
Education	Harvard University (BA)
Signature

Robert Charles Winthrop (May 12, 1809 – November 16, 1894) was an American lawyer, philanthropist, and Whig Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House and Senate from 1840 to 1851. He served as the 18th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and was a political ally and colleague of Daniel Webster. After a rapid rise in Massachusetts and national politics and one term as speaker, Winthrop succeeded Webster in the Senate. His re-election campaign resulted in a long, sharply contested defeat by Charles Sumner. He ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 1851 but lost due to the state's majority requirement, marking the end of his political career and signaling the decline of the Massachusetts Whig Party.

Winthrop was born into a prominent Boston political family, descended from colonial governors Thomas Dudley and John Winthrop and commonwealth governor James Bowdoin, his great-grandfather. After a prestigious education at Boston Latin School and Harvard College, he studied law with Webster and was admitted to the bar in 1831. In 1835, at the age of twenty-four, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served five one-year terms. From 1838 to 1840, he served as speaker of the Massachusetts House.

In 1840, Winthrop won a special election to succeed Abbott Lawrence in the United States House of Representatives, representing Boston. He was re-elected to a full term but resigned early in 1842 to mourn the death of his young wife. After only six months out of office, his successor Nathan Appleton resigned, and he was elected to succeed him. Winthrop served out the remainder of the term and was elected three more times. In 1847, he was elected Speaker of the House at the start the 30th Congress. However, he lost re-election in 1849 to Howell Cobb of Georgia after a protracted sixty-six ballot contest.

In July 1850, Daniel Webster resigned from the United States Senate to become Secretary of State amid outrage over his support for the Compromise of 1850. Governor George Briggs appointed Winthrop to succeed him, but the 1850 Massachusetts elections resulted in a three-way split of the legislature between Whigs and the Democratic and Free Soil parties, which joined in an anti-Whig coalition. After a divisive fifty-one ballot election, Free Soilers and anti-slavery Democrats united to elect Charles Sumner, an abolitionist lawyer, to the seat. Winthrop made a final run for public office in November of that year when he stood for Governor but was again defeated by the Free Soil-Democratic coalition. Though he received a plurality of all votes cast, the majority rule in place at the time sent the election to the Massachusetts General Court, where the coalition legislators again denied Winthrop by re-electing Governor George S. Boutwell. For the remainder of his life, Winthrop remained publicly involved as a Christian conservative and unionist but never again ran for public office.