Editing William E. Chandler (section)

==Political career==
[[File:William E. Chandler - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Photographic portrait of Chandler, taken circa 1865–1880 by the [[Mathew Brady|Brady]]-[[Levin Corbin Handy|Handy]] studio]]
In 1859, Chandler was appointed reporter of the decisions of the [[Supreme Court of New Hampshire]]. He then served in the [[New Hampshire House of Representatives]] from 1862 to 1865 and was the Speaker during the last two years.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref name="PolJOurNHpg45">{{Citation |last=Jenks|first= George E. |  title =Political Journal for the State of The New Hampshire 1867|  page = 45| publisher=McFarland and Jenks| location = [[Concord, New Hampshire]]|year =1866}}</ref>

===Civil War and Reconstruction===
In 1865, Chandler was appointed by President [[Abraham Lincoln]] [[Solicitor General of the Navy|solicitor]] and [[Judge Advocate General of the Navy|judge advocate general]] of the [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy Department]].  Subsequently, he was appointed First Assistant [[Secretary of the Treasury]], until he resigned in 1867.<ref name="books.google.com"/> During Chandler's tenure as First Assistant, referendums for black suffrage in most states failed, and he explained to a [[Radical Republican]] that President [[Andrew Johnson]] believed the Republicans:{{sfn|Foner|p=223}}
{{cquote|...could not carry [black suffrage] as a national issue; and the result in Connecticut proves he is right.}}

Like most Republicans, Chandler advocated suffrage for blacks.<ref name=papers/> However, he broke from the party's loyalists in his opposition to the perceived influence of trusts and railroad interests. Chandler also opposed the [[gold standard]].<ref name=papers/> Among intraparty disputes on civil rights between the Radical and "[[Conservative Republicans (Reconstruction era)|Conservative]]" factions, Chandler stated:{{sfn|Foner|pp=224–25}}
{{cquote|I notice, that everyone who goes South, whether Radical or Conservative, comes back confirmed in his previous opinion.}}

During Reconstruction, Chandler expressed pessimism about Republican efforts to safeguard Southern blacks from Democratic terrorism, viewing a demise of military protection as inevitable. As chairman of the [[Republican National Committee]], he wrote:{{sfn|Foner|p=451}}
{{cquote|This southern business must have its run. We are bound to be overwhelmed by the new rebel combinations in every southern state.}}

On April 2, 1868, Chandler [[testified]] in [[impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson|the impeachment trial]] of President [[Andrew Johnson]], having been called as a [[witness]] by the prosecution.<ref>{{cite book |title=Extracts from the Journal of the United States Senate In All Cases of Impeachment Presented By The United States House of Representatives (1798-1904) |series=Congressional serial set |page=241 |date=1912 |publisher=Washington Government Printing Office |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b628530&view=1up&seq=249}}</ref>

Amidst controversies that ensued in the wake of the [[1876 United States presidential election]], Chandler aided Republican efforts to ensure an ultimate victory for [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] over [[Samuel J. Tilden]]. In the state of Florida, the Tallahassee canvassing board tossed out 1,500 Democratic votes under the urging of Chandler, who believed the results tainted by Democratic election fraud and voter suppression, to "manufacture a Hayes victory."<ref>Muzzey, David Saville (1934). ''James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days'', p. 126. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.</ref>

Chandler returned to New Hampshire and became a newspaper publisher and editor during the 1870s and 1880s. Continuing in politics, he was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1876 and a member of the State house of representatives in 1881.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

===Secretary of Navy===
Chandler, a Half-Breed and ally of [[James G. Blaine]],<ref name=garfieldandarthur/> was appointed by President [[Chester A. Arthur]] as Secretary of the Navy in 1882.  He took charge in 1883 in planning for the rescue of Lt. [[Adolphus Greely]]'s [[Henry W. Howgate#Lady Frankling Bay Expedition|Lady Franklin Bay Expedition]]. Chandler served until 1885. Chandler also began U.S. naval resurgence modernizing the navy with the production of steel ships.

====U.S. Naval resurgence====
[[File:Chicago (protected). Port bow, 1891 - NARA - 512893.jpg|thumb|180px|right|{{center|''USS Chicago''}}]]
Chandler took office during the momentous turning point of the U.S. Navy. Both President Arthur, in his 1881 annual address, and Chandler, in his 1882 annual report, believed that the U.S. Navy, as a premier fighting force, was extinct. In fact, the U.S. Navy's top warship was the [[USS Tennessee (1865)|''USS Tennessee'']], a wooden vessel that weighed 4,840 tons. The U.S. had refrained from modernizing its navy, as other nations had done. {{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}} By contrast, the British Navy had laid down the first all-steel warship, [[HMS Iris (1877)|HMS ''Iris'']], in 1875.

On August 5, 1882, during Chandler's first year of office, Congress authorized the building of two modern steel cruizers. On March 3, 1883, Congress authorized the funding for these vessels and for two more steel vessels. Under Chandler's direction plans were drawn up and keels laid for the [[USS Chicago (1885)|''USS Chicago'']], [[USS Boston (1884)|''USS Boston'']], [[USS Atlanta (1884)|''USS Atlanta'']], and the despatch ship [[USS Dolphin (PG-24)|''USS Dolphin'']], collectively known as the ''ABCDs''.{{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}} The warships were to be constructed by the John Roach Company. The new ships and their armament were to be built in the United States at a pace that American resources could supply, rather than be built by a foreign country. {{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}} However, several years elapsed before shipyards and foundries would be ready to construct cruizers and battleships.{{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}} One ship, the ''USS Chicago'', was still built with antiquated boilers over brick furnaces and furnished with sailing equipment, in addition to steam power.{{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}} Although Chandler was charged with favoritism in the construction of the ''USS Dolphin'', he established the precedent for a modern navy made of steel ships. {{sfn|Paxson|1943|p=617}}

====Greely polar expedition rescue (1884)====
{{further|Lady Franklin Bay Expedition}}
[[File:111-SC-96236 (21832311119).jpg|thumb|right|170px|Six Greely polar expedition survivors. The honor of the U.S. Navy saved.]]
By 1883, the ill-fated crew of the U.S. Army 1881 [[Adolphus Greely|Greely]] scientific polar expedition was stranded at [[Fort Conger]] on Lady Franklin Bay. On July 7, 1881, the Greely crew had left [[Newfoundland Colony|New Foundland]], headed northward on the private whaling ship the ''Proteus''. In August 1881, the crew arrived at Lady Franklin Bay without incident or blockage from ice flows. However, after the ''Proteus'' dropped off the men and ample provisions, the ship immediately departed and left the expedition to fend for themselves. The men built Fort Conger as a place of refuge and scientific study. Two U.S. supply efforts, in 1882 and 1883, to reach the Greely party, ended in dismal failure.<ref name="Jampoler 2010">[[#Jampoler (August 2010)|Jampoler (August 2010)]]</ref> The first, on July 8, 1882, led by [[William Sully Beebe|William Beebe]], on the private steamship ''Neptune'', left St. John's, but was trapped by ice and forced to turn around. On June 29, 1883, the second left St. John's, with two ships, the ''Proteus'', commanded by First Lieutenant [[Ernest Garlington]], U.S. 7th Cavalry, and the steam gunboat [[USS Yantic (IX-32)|USS ''Yantic'']]. The ''Proteus'' was crushed by an ice pack, whose stranded crew was rescued by the USS ''Yantic''. Afterward, Garlington abandoned the mission to save Greely and the crew at Fort Conger.<ref name="Jampoler 2010"/>

On September 1, 1883, with no relief in sight, Greely and his party left the safety of Fort Conger on small boats, over rough ice-capped waters, and made a permanent base, Camp Clay, at Cape Sabine, on [[Pim Island]], off the eastern shores of the Johan Peninsula, [[Ellesmere Island]], where rations had been placed by the British a few years earlier. However, an attempt by two of Greely's men failed to retrieve the vital food cache over a long distance. Without food or [[Game (hunting)|game]], the men began to slowly starve to death.<ref name="Todd 1960">[[#Todd (June 1960)|Todd (June 1960)]]</ref><ref name="Jampoler 2010"/> On December 17, 1883, President Arthur established a joint Army-Navy commission to make recommendations to Secretary of War Lincoln and Secretary of Navy Chandler on how to rescue the Greely party. Secretary Lincoln had no interest in participating in the Greely rescue.<ref name="Jampoler 2010"/> Chandler, however, was determined to accomplish a successful rescue of Greely and to restore the honor of the U.S. Navy. Chandler assigned Commander [[Winfield Schley]] to command the 1884 Greely Relief Mission. Chandler spared no expense in the rescue effort and had purchased one of the finest sealers afloat, the [[USS Bear|USS ''Bear'']], from Scottish owner Walter Grieve, for $100,000. This was done without authority, prior to the passage of the Greely relief bill.<ref name="Todd 1960"/><ref name="Jampoler 2010"/>

Chandler vigorously demanded that all of his subordinates in the Naval Department be committed to the relief of the Greely expedition and he drew support from Navy officers. On July 17, 1884, after rescuing the Greely party, Schley arrived at [[St. John's, New Foundland|Saint John's]], [[Newfoundland (island)|New Foundland]] and telegraphed to Chandler that the rescue operation was successful. Of the seven rescued, Joseph Elison died on July 8 following multiple amputations. Evidence suggested that the men had survived through [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]], which they denied.<ref name="Jampoler 2010"/>

===U.S. Senator (New Hampshire)===
[[File:Image from page 16 of "Universities and their sons; history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees" (1898).jpg|150px|thumb|left|{{center|U.S. Senator<br>William E. Chandler<br>'''1898'''}}]]

As a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], he was elected to the [[United States Senate]] to fill the vacancy caused by the death of [[Austin F. Pike]] and served from June 14, 1887, to March 3, 1889. Subsequently, elected for the term beginning March 4, 1889, he was reelected in 1895 and served from June 18, 1889, to March 3, 1901. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination. He served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration (Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses), Committee on Census (Fifty-fourth Congress), and Committee on Privileges and Elections (Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses).

In 1892, Chandler proposed a one-year ban on immigration, to keep out "undesirables," which included cholera carriers, Anarchists, nihilists, polygamists, Mafia members, illiterates, "blind or crippled" persons, "persons without means," etc.<ref>See, for example, {{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67102884/to-control-immigration/ |title=To Control Immigration: Four More Classes of Excluded Persons Proposed |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=Washington |page=3 |date=1893-01-05 |access-date=2021-01-07 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Among the solutions Chandler proposed for addressing the "evils which have been made apparent by the vast increase, within recent years, of degraded immigrants from Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Poland and Russia proper" were the addition of an educational requirement and property qualification for all persons or families seeking to emigrate to the United States.<ref>"Shall Immigration Be Suspended?", ''North American Review'' No. 434, January 1893, p. 7.</ref>  The strongest opponents of the bill were the steamship companies, who stood to lose a major portion of their business.<ref>See, for example, {{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67102585/prohibition-of-immigration/ |title=Prohibition of Immigration: Opposition of the Steamship Companies to the Chandler Bill |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=Washington |page=4 |date=1892-12-12 |access-date=2021-01-07 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A watered-down version of The Chandler Immigration and Contract Labor Bill became law on March 3, 1893. It simply required steamship companies to prepare lists of their passengers containing full information,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67102316/the-new-immigration-bill/ |title=The New Immigration Bill |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=Washington |page=9 |date=1893-03-04 |access-date=2021-01-07 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67102470/as-it-has-passed-congress/ |title=(Untitled editorial) |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=4 |date=1893-03-05 |access-date=2021-01-07 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and thus very likely served as a compromise to get the steamship companies to back down on Immigration Reform at this time.

In 1900, he was one of only two Republicans and the only Senator from the Northeast to vote against the [[Gold Standard Act]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/56-1/s21|title = TO AGREE TO THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE ... -- Senate Vote #21 -- Mar 6, 1900}}</ref> though he emphasized that he did not oppose the gold standard itself.

===Later (20th Century)===
Chandler was appointed by President [[William McKinley]] to the [[Spanish Treaty Claims Commission]] in 1901.  He was the president of the Commission from its inception until 1907 when its work was nearly complete.

In 1907, Chandler served as the lead counsel during the [[Next Friends Suit (1907)|Next Friends Suit]], a legal challenge over the estate of [[Mary Baker Eddy]], the leader of the [[Church of Christ, Scientist|Christian Science church]]. The trial was headline news across the country. He would lose the case.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Factual Evidence Subdued Tabloid Fiction in the Next Friends Suit of 1907 |url=https://www.longyear.org/learn/research-archive/next-friends-suit-1907/ |website=Longyear Museum|date=September 10, 1995 }}</ref><ref>Peel, Robert (1977). ''[https://archive.org/details/marybakereddyaut00peel Mary Baker Eddy : the years of authority]''. New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston.</ref>

Leaving public office, Chandler resumed the practice of law in Concord and Washington, D.C.