Henry G. Davis served as a U.S. Senator from West Virginia for more than a decade. He was the Democratic Party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904, losing to Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Fairbanks.
Early Life
Henry Gassaway Davis was born in Maryland in 1823. He worked on a farm until 1843, when he began to work for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a brakeman and later a conductor. After rising in the ranks of the railroad, Davis left to establish a mercantile lumber and coal business.
Political Career
After achieving success in business, Davis turned to politics. He was elected to the house of delegates of West Virginia in 1865 and later became a member of the State senate in 1868. Davis was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1871. He was reelected in 1877 and served until 1883, when he declined to be a candidate for re-nomination. In the Senate, Davis served as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and was known for supporting the National Department of Agriculture.
After retiring from Congress, Davis moved back to West Virginia and returned to his banking and coal mining interests. By 1892, the Davis Coal and Coke Company was one of the largest coal companies in the world. Davis remained active in the Democratic party, and represented the United States at the Pan American conferences of 1889 and 1901.
Return to Politics
In 1904, Davis begrudgingly ran for Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket alongside Alton B. Parker. While Davis had been mentioned as a Vice-Presidential candidate in the past, he always discouraged his nomination. At the 1904 Democratic Convention, Davis was nominated only after he had returned home. While he would have preferred to focus on his business interests, he responded to the call from his party.
Parker and Davis were handily defeated by Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Fairbanks. Davis was 80 years old when he ran for Vice President and remains the oldest person to be nominated for president or vice president on a major party ticket.
