William Worth Belknap: Iowa Time Machine October 13, 1890

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On October 13, 1890, former Iowa soldier and Secretary of War William Worth Belknap died in Washington, D.C., closing a career that stretched from distinguished Civil War service to a national corruption scandal. His death came fourteen years after he became the first presidential cabinet member impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Born in Newburgh, New York, in 1829, he graduated from Princeton in 1848 and moved to Keokuk in 1851 to practice law. Iowa offered opportunities for an ambitious young attorney, and he entered state politics before the Civil War transformed his future. Commissioned a major in the 15th Iowa Infantry in 1861, Belknap fought at Shiloh and Corinth and earned recognition for his bravery at Atlanta. His service with William T. Sherman’s forces helped establish the military reputation that carried him into postwar public life.

After returning to Iowa and serving as an internal revenue collector, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him secretary of war in 1869. The Keokuk lawyer reached the cabinet through battlefield achievement and Republican political connections.

The events of 1876 would forever redefine Belknap’s public image. In that year, investigators uncovered a kickback arrangement involving the lucrative trading concession at Fort Sill in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Businessman Caleb Marsh paid Belknap thousands of dollars through an arrangement tied to the concession, turning the secretary’s control over a military appointment into private income. On March 2, 1876, Belknap resigned shortly before the House voted unanimously to impeach him. His resignation did not prevent a Senate trial. On August 1, a majority of senators voted to convict on each of the five articles, yet none reached the required two-thirds threshold. #Iowa #OTD #History #Politics #CivilWar