Voting Station

Montgomery Blair

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Politician

The Resume

    (May 10, 1813-July 27, 1883)
    Born in Franklin County, Kentucky
    Attorney and politician
    Mayor of St. Louis (1842-43)
    United States Postmaster General (1861-64)
    Great-grandfather of Montgomery Clift

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a Democrat turned Republican turned Democrat.
    He repeatedly clashed with the other members of Lincoln's cabinet, especially Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase.
    Journalist Noah Brooks wrote, 'Blair, though a good Postmaster General, is the meanest man in the whole government.'
    He ran unsuccessfully for Congressional Representative from Maryland's 6th DIstrict (1882).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served as a legal counsel for Dred Scott in Scott's bid for freedom (1857).
    His manor in Silver Springs, Maryland, was burned down by Confederate soldiers (1864).
    As Postmaster General, he instituted uniform postage rates.
    He introduced the sale of money orders at post offices to reduce the sending of currency through the mail (and thus reduce mail thefts).
    He called for the First International Postal Conference (1863), which led to the formation of the Universal Postal Union.
    The U.S. Post Office shut down in his memory on the day of his funeral.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying