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30-540: William Woods Holden (November 24, 1818 – March 1, 1892) was an American politician who served as the 38th and 40th governor of North Carolina . He was appointed by President Andrew Johnson in 1865 for a brief term and then elected in 1868. He served until 1871 and was the leader of the state's Republican Party during the Reconstruction Era . Holden was the second governor in American history to be impeached , and

60-632: A 48–0 vote. Holden was born on November 24, 1818, and raised near Hillsborough, North Carolina . Aged 10, he began a six-year apprenticeship with Dennis Heartt at the Hillsborough Recorder newspaper in Hillsborough, North Carolina . By age 19, Holden was working as a printer and writer at the Raleigh Star , in Raleigh, North Carolina . He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1841, and became

90-430: A limit that was changed in 1977 to allow them to succeed themselves once. The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1868, to act as governor when that office is vacant; in 1971 this was changed so that the lieutenant governor becomes governor. Before the office was created, the speaker of the senate would act as governor should it be vacant. The governor and the lieutenant governor are not officially elected on

120-646: A major role in North Carolina and placed the Standard newspaper in the hands of his son, Joseph W. Holden . However, he was defeated by Jonathan Worth in a special election for governor in 1865. Johnson then nominated Holden to be minister to El Salvador , but the Senate rejected his nomination, so he returned to editing the Standard , and became president of the North Carolina Union League , and organized

150-630: A member of the Whig party . However, he never practiced law and instead participated in the newspaper business. In 1843, he became owner and editor of the North Carolina Standard in Raleigh. He changed the newspaper's party affiliation to the Democratic Party . When Holden took over the newspaper, it was struggling financially. Under his leadership, it became one of the most widely read newspapers in

180-464: A time when the military was ill-prepared for the scale of need. At the same time as these elite clubs were formed, Union Leagues sprang-up throughout the rest of the North, created primarily by working-class men, while women's organizations known as Ladies Union Leagues appeared in towns across the North. In the spring of 1863 these separate, though (mostly) philosophically aligned groups, were organized under

210-508: The Confederate government, and became a leader of the North Carolina peace movement. In 1864, he ran against incumbent Governor Zebulon B. Vance as a peace candidate, but Vance defeated him in a landslide receiving over eighty percent of the vote. When the Civil War ended on May 9, 1865, Holden was appointed Governor on May 29, by President Andrew Johnson . During Reconstruction he served

240-581: The Kirk–Holden war . The result was a political backlash, accompanied by violence at the time of the election to suppress the black vote. The Republicans lost the legislative election. After the Democratic Party regained majorities in both houses of the state legislature in 1870, Governor Holden was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives on December 14, 1870. During his trial in

270-631: The Ku Klux Klan . Holden was the first governor in American history to be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Governor Charles L. Robinson of Kansas was the first American governor to be impeached, however, without conviction and removal. Following his impeachment and removal from office he moved to Washington, D.C. , where he resumed working on the Daily Chronicle . In 1873, President Ulysses Grant appointed him as postmaster for Raleigh and he served until 1881. President James A. Garfield

300-572: The Metropolitan Museum of Art , and funded construction of the Statue of Liberty 's pedestal and Grant's Tomb . Some former Union League buildings have been adapted for other uses. In Brooklyn, New York, the former Union League Club building now serves as a senior citizens' home. The former Union League building in New Haven, Connecticut , built on the site of founding father, Roger Sherman's home

330-558: The North Carolina Senate in a 48–0 vote. List of Governors of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces . There have been 69 governors of North Carolina, with six serving non-consecutive terms, totaling 75 terms. The current governor is Democrat Roy Cooper , who took office on January 1, 2017. Prior to declaring its independence, North Carolina

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360-680: The Union on May 20, 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861. Following the end of the American Civil War , North Carolina during Reconstruction was part of the Second Military District , which exerted some control over governor appointments and elections. North Carolina was readmitted to the Union on July 4, 1868. The first constitution of 1776 created

390-515: The 1850 elections he served a major role in ending the Whig dominance in the state. By 1858, he was chairman of the party. That year, he unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but was defeated by John W. Ellis , and then his party passed him over for a Senate seat. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Holden advocated for Southern rights to expand slavery and sometimes supported

420-527: The North Carolina Republican Party in 1866–67. While voters were approving the new state constitution, Holden was elected governor at the head of the Republican ticket in 1868, defeating Thomas Samuel Ashe . When he was elected governor, Holden gave up editorship and ownership of the Standard . To combat the Ku Klux Klan , Holden hired two dozen detectives from 1869 to 1870, and although

450-609: The Republican Party despite the changes in party ideology over the years. In 2023, there was a controversy in the New York City Union League about whether to put a picture of Donald Trump on the wall of their Union Hall; the NYC Union League had a picture of every previous Republican president. The pro-Trump and anti-Trump Republicans in the NYC Union League ultimately compromised by putting up a picture of Trump that

480-464: The Senate he was defended by Nathaniel Boyden and William N. H. Smith , but he was convicted on six of the eight charges against him by Democratic members of the North Carolina Senate in party-line votes on March 22, 1871. Holden's son-in-law, state senator Lewis P. Olds , was among those who voted against removal. The other two charges received majority votes, but not the required two-thirds majorities. The main charges against Holden were related to

510-702: The Union League of America (ULA), headquartered in Washington, D.C. During the Reconstruction era , Union Leagues were formed across the South after 1867 as working auxiliaries of the Republican Party, supported entirely by Northern interests. They were secret organizations that mobilized freedmen to register to vote and to vote Republican. They taught freedmen Union views on political issues and which way to vote on them, and promoted civic projects. Eric Foner reports: By

540-431: The council was supreme when the congress was not in session. Cornelius Harnett served as the first president from October 18, 1775, to August 21, 1776. Samuel Ashe then served until September 27, 1776, and Willie Jones until October 25, 1776, at which time a state government had been formed. North Carolina was one of the original Thirteen Colonies , and was admitted as a state on November 21, 1789. It seceded from

570-473: The detective unit was not overly successful in limiting Klan activities, his efforts to suppress the Klan exceeded those of other Southern governors. With new powers granted to him by the state legislature under the 1870 Shoffner Act , he called out the militia against the Klan in 1870, imposed martial law in two counties, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus for accused leaders of the Klan in what became known as

600-665: The election year of 1864 they were in open alliance with the Republican Party , supporting the reelection of Abraham Lincoln, but were also supportive of pro-Union Democrats. The largest and best known of these clubs formed in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, were composed of prosperous men who raised money for war-related service organizations such as the United States Sanitary Commission , which provided medical care to treat Federal soldiers wounded in battle at

630-552: The end of 1867 it seemed that virtually every black voter in the South had enrolled in the Union League, the Loyal League, or some equivalent local political organization. Meetings were generally held in a black church or school. The Ku Klux Klan ; a secret society of white supremacists which opposed civil rights and terrorized black voters, sometimes assassinated leaders of the Union Leagues. The Union Leagues still do support

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660-416: The first to be removed from office through that process. His impeachment was politically motivated due to his suppression of the Ku Klux Klan . After Republicans lost the 1870 election, Democrats impeached Holden on eight fabricated charges relating to the Kirk–Holden war . He is the only North Carolina governor to have been impeached. In 2011, Holden was posthumously pardoned by the North Carolina Senate in

690-403: The office of governor, to be chosen by the legislature annually, and whom may only serve up to three out of every six years. An amendment in 1835 changed this to popular election for a term of two years, allowing them to succeed themselves once. The 1868 constitution lengthened terms to four years, to commence on the first day of January after the election, but they could not succeed themselves,

720-463: The right of secession, but by 1860 he had shifted his position to support the Union. Holden and his newspaper fell out of favor with the state Democratic Party, and he was removed as the state's printer when he editorialized against secession in 1860. In 1861, Holden was sent to a state convention to vote against secession representing Wake County . As the Civil War progressed, Holden became critical of

750-492: The rough treatment and arrests of North Carolina citizens by state militia officer Colonel George W. Kirk during the enforcement of Reconstruction civil rights legislation. Holden had formed the state militia to respond to the assassination of Republican senator John W. Stephens on May 21, 1870, and the lynching of Wyatt Outlaw , a black police officer in the town of Graham in Alamance County , as well as numerous attacks by

780-496: The same ticket. Union League The Union Leagues were established to promote loyalty to the Union of the United States of America , to support the policies of newly elected 16th President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865, served 1861–1865) and to assure his reelection in 1864, and to combat what they believed to be the treasonous words and actions of anti-war, anti-black "Copperhead" Democrats . Though initially nonpartisan, by

810-477: The state. He continued as owner and editor of the newspaper until he was elected governor. In December 1843, Holden became a delegate to the Democratic state party convention, where he was elected to the North Carolina Democratic Party state executive committee. In 1846, Holden was elected to represent Wake County in the North Carolina House of Commons and chose to only serve one term. During

840-715: Was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain . The 13-member Provincial Council, renamed the Council of Safety in April 1776, was essentially the executive authority during the second year of the revolution, and was appointed by the Provincial Congress . The Presidency of the Council and the Presidency of the Congress could each be considered the highest offices in the state during this time, but

870-552: Was hidden behind a couch. Many Union Leagues preferred other candidates such as Ron DeSantis to Trump in the 2024 Republican primaries. The Philadelphia Union League bestowed their highest honor on DeSantis, which caused a small protest by NAACP members and other civil rights supporters outside of the Union League building. After the Civil War, members of the Union League Club of New York broadened their support of other philanthropic purposes. For instance, they helped to found

900-405: Was later asked by Raleigh Republicans to not re-appoint him and Holden left the Republican party after losing his position. Holden died on March 1, 1892, and was buried at Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh. He was recognized as "one of the foremost men in intellectual power and daring that were ever born here" by North Carolinian Walter Hines Page . In 2011, Holden was posthumously pardoned by

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