Roscoe Conkling's Wartime Cotton Speculation Jeffrey D. Broxmeyer, University of Toledo American Civil War catapulted a new generation of political lead- ers into positions of influence. In New York, Roscoe Conkling was chief among this crop of ambitious politicians and he remained a dominant figure well into the 1880s. In the war's aftermath, and the eclipse of slav- ery as a central issue, Conkling institutionalized the Republican Party in the state by establishing a political machine through control over federal patronage. Despite mastery of the spoils system, and quite unlike many of his own political lieutenants, Conkling did not conspicuously leverage his position to build personal wealth while holding public office.1 Yet, it would be a mischaracterization to claim that Conkling did not profit from poli- tics. During the war years, he used party and government connections to discreetly make a small fortune by speculating in cotton. Previous scholars have failed to scrutinize Conkling's participation in this quasi-legal ven- ture. New evidence, including Federal Income Tax records, suggests that long-hidden wartime cotton profits first established the future U.S. Senator as a property owner. This pivota! episode deserves attention because it sheds light on the role of private wealth accumulation in political factional- ism, and the way that savvy Republican officeholders benefited from the cotton policies established during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. For Roscoe Conkling, an alliance that initially formed with partners over wartime commerce persisted in political and business relationships well into the Gilded Age. l. After resignation from the U.S. Senate in 1881, however, Conkling became wealthy for the first time in his life. He spun political influence into a successful career as a corporate lawyer and lobbyist for railroads and other business interests. By contrast, top Conkling loyalists such as Alonzo Cornell, Chester Arthur, and George Bliss built personal fortunes during their tenure in office. Jeffrey D. Broxmeyer, "Politics as a Sphere of Wealth Accumulation: Cases of Gilded Age New York, 1855-1888 (PhD Diss., City University of New York-Graduate Center, 2014), chapter 4. New York History Spring 2015 © 2015 by The New York State Historical Association