Every now and then I like to highlight characters in history who crossed paths with American Presidents in some way, shape or form.
Today…
I’d like to talk **briefly** about a lawyer named Lambdin Milligan…
Enjoy the thread! 🧵
#POTUS 🇺🇸
Milligan was an Ohio boy who ended up studying law, eventually passing the bar in Ohio. He was actually classmates with Edwin Stanton! Stanton would go onto be Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln 🇺🇸
But I digress…keep reading!
#POTUS 🧵
Milligan moved to Indiana to continue his law career. There he involved himself in heavy “states rights” politics, and followed guys like John Calhoun and Martin Van Buren 🇺🇸
Milligan eventually identified as a “Copperhead”—a Democrat opposing the Civil War & Lincoln
#POTUS 🧵
Milligan involved himself with a group formerly known as the Knights of the Golden Circle who aimed to start a new country
Milligan’s involvement and outspoken nature against the US government earned him notoriety and charges of conspiracy, leading to his arrest
#POTUS 🧵
Because Abraham Lincoln 🇺🇸 suspended “habeus corpus”, Milligan’s arrest was justified in the eyes of the US government and the law during the Civil War
Milligan went to trial under a military tribunal for his alleged role in acts of conspiracy against the government
#POTUS 🧵
The case came to an end in December of 1864 with Milligan and others found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Appeals were heard and new President Andrew Johnson 🇺🇸 postponed the hanging until summer 1865, eventually commuting the sentence to life in prison
#POTUS 🧵
Milligan, a lawyer himself, and his legal team challenged the legality of his arrest, his detainment, and the circumstances of him being tried in a military court vs a civilian court.
Things got serious and eventually headed to the Supreme Court!
#POTUS 🧵
Milligan had a slick defense team that included…wait for it…future President James Garfield 🇺🇸 (making his first courtroom argument)!
Long story short, Garfield and his team won and Milligan was discharged from prison
Done?
Not so fast…
There’s more!
#POTUS 🧵
@GarfieldNPS
Milligan was free - but pissed off.
He returned to Indiana and filed a $500,000 civil suit related to his ordeal
Milligan had a new legal team who went up against a sharp Indiana lawyer named…wait for it…future President Benjamin Harrison 🇺🇸!
So what happened?
#POTUS 🧵
Harrison lost and Milligan won the case - again!
But…the law prevented him from getting the half-million he was seeking.
Instead, he got…wait for it…$5.00…
…which eventually featured Milligan’s not-so-favorite President Abraham Lincoln 🇺🇸!
Thanks for reading!
#POTUS
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