Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks

Vice presidents don't get nearly enough attention, especially 19th-century veeps who died in office after only a few months. So even though DPD has mentioned Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana, 21st Vice President of the United States, on a previous September 7, he needs another mention. Today is his 192nd birthday.

He was nearly Samuel J. Tiden's vice president, but was cheated out of the job as surely as Tiden was the presidency. Instead, William Wheeler served as vice president from 1877 to 1881.

Hendricks became vice president on March 4, 1885, at the beginning of the first Cleveland administration. He died on November 25, 1885, during a visit to Indiana, and is still there, buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.