John P. Stockton

Who was John P. Stockton?

John Potter Stockton was a New Jersey politician who served in the United States Senate as a Democrat.

Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Stockton was the son of Robert F. Stockton, grandson of Richard Stockton and the great-grandson of Richard Stockton, both prominent New Jersey politicians. He graduated from Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, where he studied law.

Stockton's first foray into politics was as US Minister to the Papal States. After returning to New Jersey to practice law for four years, he was appointed to the Senate. His first tenure lasted barely a year before he voted against the proposition of the Fourteenth Amendment, which failed to pass the Senate by one vote.

In response, the Senate passed a motion, by a majority of one, to unseat him even though the constitution specified that a two-thirds majority was required to expel a Senator. The inventive response to this was that the Senate was unseating him retroactively, which was claimed to be quite distinct from expulsion.

The outrage caused by this led to New Jersey rescinding its ratification of the Amendment, in protest of his arbitrary removal.