Post-war Political Career
After the war, Logan resumed his political career, now as a Republican, and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871, and of the United States Senate from 1871 until 1877 and again from 1879 until his death in 1886. After the war, Logan, who had always been a staunch partisan, was identified with the radical wing of the Republican Party. His forceful, passionate speaking, popular on the platform, was less effective in the halls of legislation. In 1868, he was one of the managers in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. One of Logan's leading issues in the Senate was his efforts to stop any action taken to overturn the conviction in the court-martial of Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter.
He was active in veterans' affairs and helped lead the call for creation of Memorial Day as a national public holiday. His war record and his great personal following, especially in the Grand Army of the Republic, contributed to his nomination for Vice President in 1884 on the ticket with James G. Blaine, but they were not elected. For this campaign, he commissioned the painting of the Atlanta Cyclorama, which emphasized his heroism in the Battle of Atlanta.
When Logan died in 1886, his body lay in state in the United States Capitol. He was buried at United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery. Logan was the author of The Great Conspiracy: Its Origin and History (1886), a partisan account of the Civil War, and of The Volunteer Soldier of America (1887). His son, John Alexander Logan, Jr., was also an army officer and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Philippine–American War.
Read more about this topic: John A. Logan
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