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corruption attending the election of Clark to declare unanimously that
he had not been duly elected and was not entitled to take his seat.”
Clark was not defeated, however. Rather than wait for the verdict to
be made official, he resigned and created a vacancy.
The New York Times
article said, “Within six hours of the time he had with streaming eyes
said farewell to the body that had decided … he was unfit to retain his
membership, he had received and accepted an appointment to fill the
vacancy created by his resignation...”
In a Senate that was not easily shocked, Clark’s performance left that
house of Congress aghast. Without regard to the finer points of law, they
found a way to deny him his seat again. Clark was undeterred. For the
1901 Senate election, he appealed to the miners’ union and promised,
among other things, an 8-hour day. He was elected and served until 1907
without ever fulfilling his commitments to the miners.
Expanding his Empire
By 1900, Clark was one of the wealthiest men in America with
a personal fortune estimated at $50 million. Clark had expanded
his mine holdings in 1888 by purchasing the United Verde Copper
Clark’s mansion on 5th Avenue at 77th Street in New York rose nine stories and
boasted 120 rooms including four art galleries (Courtesy of Library of Congress)
Architectural Design
Don Nulty
Interior Design
Suzannne Rheinstein