Political Career
Varian was a prominent Democrat and led Tammany Hall from 1835 until 1842. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1831, 1832 and 1833; Mayor of New York City from 1839 to 1841; and a member of the New York State Senate (1st D.) from 1842 to 1845, sitting in the 65th, 66th, 67th and 68th New York State Legislatures.
As Tammany Hall leader, Varian presided over a critical period in Democratic history, which saw the defection, and return of the Locofoco faction, which was in existence from 1835 until 1840, and was the decisive factor in the 1837 mayoral election won by Whigs against the divided Democrats.
Varian first ran for mayor in 1838, losing to Whig Aaron Clark by only 519 votes in an election tainted with allegations of massive Whig fraud and intimidation. In 1839 Varian beat Clark by 1,067 votes despite blatant electoral misconduct. During Varian's first term the legislature passed a bill that mandated voter registration and made it a lot harder to commit electoral fraud.
Read more about this topic: Isaac L. Varian
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or career:
“The general review of the past tends to satisfy me with my political life. No man, I suppose, ever came up to his ideal. The first half [of] my political life was first to resist the increase of slavery and secondly to destroy it.... The second half of my political life has been to rebuild, and to get rid of the despotic and corrupting tendencies and the animosities of the war, and other legacies of slavery.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)