Richard Yates

Who was Richard Yates?

Richard Yates was the Governor of Illinois during the American Civil War and has been considered the greatest war governor during that period. When the war began Gov. Yates sent more troops to aid the Union than any other state. He also represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives, 1851–1855 and as a U.S. Senator, 1865–1871.

Yates was born in Warsaw, Kentucky and moved with his family to Illinois in 1831. He studied at Miami University and Georgetown College and graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1835. He then studied law at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Jacksonville.

Yates served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1842–1845 and 1848–1849. In 1850, he was elected as a Whig to the United States House of Representatives where he was the youngest member of the Thirty-second Congress. He was reelected to Congress in 1852. During Yates' second term in Congress, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise reopened the anti-slavery question. He opposed the repeal, and became identified with the new Republican Party. His district was pro-slavery and consequently he narrowly lost his bid for a third term.