Henry C. Warmoth

Who was Henry C. Warmoth?

Henry Clay Warmoth was a politician and the 23rd Governor of Louisiana from 1868 until his impeachment and suspension from office during the final days of his term in 1872, because of disputes over the outcome of the election. His Lt. Governor, P.B.S. Pinchback, assumed office during Warmoth's absence, becoming the first African-American governor in the United States. Warmoth had supported a Fusionist government and lost support of some Radical Republicans.

He was the first elected Reconstruction Governor of Louisiana; later, he was elected as a Louisiana State Representative, serving one term from 1876-78, during the period when Reconstruction ended and the federal government withdrew its troops from the state. In 1888 Warmoth challenged former governor Francis T. Nicholls in a gubernatorial contest and narrowly lost to the Democrat, in an election noted for widespread voter fraud. In 1890 Warmoth was appointed US Collector of Customs in New Orleans, serving for several years. His memoir, War, Politics and Reconstruction, is considered a classic of the genre.