Born in Albany, New York, Roscoe Conkling was the son of Eliza Cockburn and Alfred Conkling, a prominent Whig congressman, diplomat and lawyer. Conkling decided to become a lawyer like his father, and in 1850 he moved to Utica, where he began his political and legal careers at the same time, accepting an appointment as district attorney. In 1854, he helped to found the Republican party in New York, and the next year he married Julia Seymour, sister of New York's Democratic governor, Horatio Seymour. In 1858 he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would serve for most of the next decade before being elected to the Senate in 1867.

In large part, Conkling owed his quick rise up the political ladder to his magnetic personality. He was handsome, and in good physical shape, and he possessed tremendous self-confidence. Conkling certainly didn't build his career around his legislative accomplishments. He occasionally took a strong stand on some issues, opposing the issuance of Greenback currency and speaking out against Radical Reconstruction, but he rarely took the lead and throughout his career he was never associated with a major piece of legislation. His efforts were instead geared toward maintaining party machinery and solidifying his power base. Senate colleague John Sherman noted that, "He never interests himself in anything but personal antagonisms."

As Conkling's career progressed, his grip on New York politics became increasingly tight. Many political bosses of the era based their power on patronage and personal alliances, but Conkling, who was somewhat aloof and had few close personal friends, preferred instead to focus on making trouble for those who dared cross him. Senator James A. Garfield, one of Conkling's main targets, described him as "a great fighter, inspired more by his hates than his loves." When James G. Blaine publicly made fun of Conkling's "turkey-gobbler strut", Conkling refused to speak to Blaine ever again, and the two became bitter enemies. Conkling also maintained ongoing feuds with most of the other leading political figures of his day including Chester A. Arthur, Carl Schurz, Horace Greeley, George William Curtis, James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes. Conkling even had difficulty maintaining cordial relations with his family. His relationship with his wife became strained and remote, and she rarely accompanied him to Washington. This eventually led to a highly publicized love affair with Kate Chase Sprague that caused Conkling some amount of embarrassment. Conkling also cut his daughter and only child, Bessie, off after she married a man he did not like.

The only person with whom Conkling seems to have had a close personal and professional relationship was Ulysses S. Grant. The two men had a great deal of respect and affection for one another. When Grant became president, he allowed Conkling to take responsibility for all government appointments made in the state of New York, cementing the Senator's power over the Republican party there. At this point, Conkling was at the height of his power. When Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase died, Grant offered the job to Conkling, who refused, believing that he would succeed Grant as president.

The 1876 Republican convention proved to be the great disappointment of Conkling's political life. The convention was split between his followers and those of Blaine. To break the deadlock, the convention turned to a third candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes. After Hayes' nomination and election, Conkling had to satisfy himself with leading the anti-administration faction in Congress, known as the "Stalwarts". Conkling did everything he could to frustrate the president's agenda and to otherwise create legislative gridlock. In one highly publicized event, Conkling caused several of Hayes' nominees for patronage positions in New York to be rejected by the Senate.

At the Republican convention of 1880, Conkling led the movement to re-nominate Ulysses S. Grant for a third term. While he did not succeed in that, he did manage to get New Yorker Chester Arthur nominated for the vice-presidency and to keep his rivals James G. Blaine and John Sherman from securing the presidential nomination. The eventual presidential nominee, Ohioan James A. Garfield, was not entirely acceptable to Conkling but he eventually gave his support, believing that Garfield would give him control over New York patronage.

After being elected, however, Garfield gave the post of Secretary of State to Blaine. Several other appointments made it increasingly clear to Conkling that he was an outsider as far as the president was concerned. Outraged, he broke with Garfield and became an outspoken critic of the administration. In May of 1881, Garfield named William H. Robertson as his choice for Collector of the Port of New York, the most lucrative patronage position in the country. As he had done to Hayes' first nominee for the position, Conkling tried to have Robertson rejected. Garfield refused to back down, insisting that the right to make appointments without undue Senate interference was an important presidential prerogative. Some Senators were unwilling to alienate the new president, others were aware that the public largely agreed with Garfield's position, and many had tired of Conkling's constant troublemaking. Whatever the case, Conkling was defeated, and on May 14, 1881 he resigned from the Senate. He hoped to be vindicated by being reelected, but he had lost control of New York politics, and he was defeated. Conkling spent his final years in private law practice, dying in New York City in 1888.

Source: Christopher Bates for the History 139B website.