Leland Stanford

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Leland Stanford
Stanford circa 1870
United States Senator
from California
In office
March 4, 1885 – June 21, 1893
Preceded byJames T. Farley
Succeeded byGeorge Clement Perkins
8th Governor of California
In office
January 10, 1862 – December 10, 1863
LieutenantJohn F. Chellis
Preceded byJohn Gately Downey
Succeeded byFrederick Ferdinand Low
Personal details
Born
Amasa Leland Stanford

(1824-03-09)March 9, 1824
Watervliet, New York
DiedJune 21, 1893(1893-06-21) (aged 69)
Palo Alto, California
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Jane Elizabeth Lathrop
(m. 1850; his death 1893)
ChildrenLeland Stanford Jr.
Alma materCazenovia Seminary
ProfessionEntrepreneur, politician
Signature

Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American tycoon, industrialist, politician. He was also the founder of Stanford University along with his wife, Jane Stanford.[1] He came to California with his brothers in 1852 and they were successful in selling tools and mining equipment.

Leland joined with three other Sacramento merchants to form a group who called themselves “The Associates.” It was these men—Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and, as President, himself. They bonded together as a team to build the first Transcontinental Railway. His role with them drove his politics, and his success in politics for what he was trying to do for Sacramento and California was very much driven by his position as the head of Southern Pacific Railroad.

Stanford was a white supremacist. In 1859, he wrote:

I am in favor of free white American citizens. I prefer free white citizens to any other race. I prefer the white man to the negro as an inhabitant to our country.[2]

He spent one two-year term as Governor of California after his election in 1861. He later spent eight years as a United States Senator.

References[change | change source]

  1. Burlingame, Dwight (August 19, 2004). Philanthropy in America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 456. ISBN 978-1-57607-860-0.
  2. Leigh, Phil (2017-05-29). "Should Stanford University Change its Name?". Civil War Chat. Retrieved 2020-11-17.