George Vickers

Who was George Vickers?

George Vickers, a Democrat, was a United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 1868-1873. He cast the deciding vote in the Senate that saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment. Vickers also served in the Maryland State Senate.

Vickers was born in Chestertown, Maryland, and was employed in the Kent County, Maryland clerk’s office for several years. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, commencing practice in Chestertown.

He also served as a Major General of the Maryland State Militia during the Civil War. Of his four sons, one fought for the North while a second son, Benjamin Vickers, fought in the Confederate 2nd Tennessee Regiment and was killed at the Battle of Shiloh.

In 1864, Vickers served as presidential elector on the Democratic ticket, and was vice president of the National Union Convention of Conservatives in Philadelphia in 1866. He served as a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1866 to 1867, and was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the action of the Senate in declining to permit Philip F. Thomas to qualify.

Just as Vickers was named to the Senate, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson had begun.