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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series marking the 120th anniversary of Niles native William McKinley's U.S. presidency.
The following news item appeared in the social and personal column of the Washington Post on Aug. 4, 1899:
"The vice president and Mrs. Hobart propose leaving their Long Beach Cottage today for a two-week visit to Lake Champlain. It is hoped and expected that president and Mrs. McKinley will make their long-proposed visit to the resort on the return of Mr. and Mrs. Hobart who will spend their early autumn at Normanhurst."
I knew from a column I wrote in 2017 the McKinleys and Hobarts had both vacationed together at Lake Champlain on the recommendation of Vice President Hobart. The McKinleys were already at Lake Champlain in 1899 awaiting the Hobarts.
A president vacationing with his vice president was unheard of in McKinley's time, as it is today. I concluded the president and the vice president were close personal friends. I was curious to learn more about Vice President Hobart and how his friendship with President William McKinley developed. This column and my column next month will be devoted to answering the question: Who was Garret Hobart?
First, some basic facts about Hobart. He was the 24th vice president of the United States. He was the second of two vice presidents of the United States to be born in New Jersey, the other being Aaron Burr.
Hobart was the vice president during McKinley's first term in office and he died in 1899. The office of the vice president was vacant for the remainder of McKinley's first term that end in 1901.
Hobart was born in Long Branch, N.J., on June 3, 1844. His father, Addison Hobart, was a farmer and a teacher. He founded an elementary school in Long Branch that Garret attended. Addison was involved in New Jersey politics as an active member of the Democratic Party.
Hobart attended a boarding school for high school, going on to Rutgers University, eventually graduating first in his class in 1863. Unlike McKinley and other men during the Civil War, Hobart did not volunteer for military service. He studied law instead of serving in the military.
Hobart studied law under Socrates Tuttle in Patterson, N.J. Tuttle was one of the leading Republican politicians there.
Hobart married Jennie Tuttle, daughter of Socrates, in 1869. Hobart had been active in Democratic politics in New Jersey throughout the 1860s, but changed his party affiliation soon after marrying into the Tuttle family.
Hobart was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1871. He became a successful lawyer and businessman. He represented banks and railroads as part of his legal business. He served on more than 60 corporate boards and he was president of the local water utility. It was estimated that Hobart was a millionaire by the end of the 1870s. He was described by his legal and business associates as an affable man.
Hobart became involved in local and regional politics, not as a major interest, but as a civic duty. He was elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 1872 and became its speaker in 1873. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1876 and became president of that body in 1881.
Hobart was a delegate from New Jersey to several Republican National Conventions in the 1870s and 1880s. He served as chair of the New Jersey Republican Committee in the 1880s. Hobart was content as a part-time politician in the 1870s and 1880s.
He led a comfortable life and he was becoming wealthy. He did not want to give up his good life to be governor, nor to serve in Washington, D.C. He made two half-hearted attempts to be elected as a U.S. senator and lost both times. A friend described Hobart as a politician in the following way: "He was not fond of standing in the public eye."
New Jersey was considered a swing state in the 1896 election and the support of Garret Hobart was considered crucial in putting New Jersey in the Republican column. Next month, we will learn how Hobart became part of the McKinley ticket. We also will explore how McKinley and Hobart became friends and Hobart's accomplishments as vice president.