David Tod
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David Tod (February 21, 1805 - November 13, 1868) was a politician from Ohio. He served as the 25th Governor of Ohio.
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Tod attended Burton Academy in Geauga County and studied law in Warren, where he was appointed postmaster. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1827, he made a fortune as a lawyer involved in the coal and iron industries of the Mahoning Valley, and rose to become president of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad.
Tod was a candidate for Ohio's governorship as a Democrat in 1843 and 1845, running on a strongly anti-national bank platform, but lost both elections. He was appointed by President James K. Polk as minister (ambassador) to Brazil from 1847-1851. Though previously strongly Democratic, Tod joined the pro-Union alliance between the Republican Party and Ohio's War Democrats at the outset of the Civil War. He was elected governor in 1861 and served one term, from 1862 to 1864.
Gov. Tod faced significant difficulties in encouraging military recruitment and providing for Ohio troops in the field, but gained the nickname "the soldier's friend." In time he advocated Federal conscription, writing to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, "With this Ohio will... respond to any further calls made upon her, but without it it would be impossible to raise any considerable number." Tod also was challenged to maintain the state's security during the war, calling out the militia to respond to a cavalry raid by Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan from July 12-26, 1863, and arranging for the compensation of Ohioans whose property had been confiscated by Morgan's men. Gov. Tod also, wrote historian Richard H. Abbott, "battled with recalcitrant Democrats, unruly newspaper editors, draft rioters, and strange secret societies." He suggested the Federal military arrest of Copperhead leaders such as Dr. Edson B. Olds - who sued him for kidnapping and actually had the Governor briefly arrested, before the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a writ of habeas corpus - and Clement Vallandigham.
Tod was unable to secure the pro-Union renomination in 1863, losing it to another War Democrat, John Brough, who was better-liked in the state and more strongly supported the anti-slavery direction the Northern war effort had by then taken. President Abraham Lincoln then offered Tod the post of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, telling an aide, "He is my friend, with a big head full of brains... he made a good governor, and has made a fortune for himself." Tod, knowing he was not radical enough for Republicans in the United States Senate and in fragile health, declined the appointment. Tod died of apoplexy in 1868, leaving a widow and seven children.
Ohio historian Delmer Trester wrote, "His administration was characterized by intense patriotism, devotion to duty, administrative ability, and unflagging energy. Ohio was fortunate to have David Tod as one of its war governors."
| Preceded by: William Dennison (Ohio governor) | Governors of Ohio | Succeeded by: John Brough |