Page "John Sherman" Paragraph 5

After his marriage, Sherman took up an interest in politics.

He was a delegate to the 1848 Whig National Convention which nominated General Zachary Taylor for the presidency and again to the 1852 Whig National Convention which nominated General Winfield Scott.

In 1853, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1854, he was elected a Republican to the United States House of Representatives for Ohio's thirteenth district where he was the Republican candidate for Speaker in the long contest of 1859 – 60 and served as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means from 1860 to 1861.

According to the author Garry Boulard in his book Abraham Lincoln Ascendent, it was Sherman's 1859 endorsement of the controversial anti-slavery book, The Impending Crisis of the South, written by Hinton Helper, that doomed Sherman's chances of becoming Speaker.

Southern members of the House declared that because of that endorsement, they would never vote for Sherman.

Sherman initially denied that he had endorsed the book, and had instead only signed a circular recommending that the book be used as a Republican campaign tool for the 1860 race.

Months after bowing out of the Speakership contest, Sherman admitted that he had indeed both read and endorsed Helper's book.