The Dubuque senator whose 35 years in Washington made him one of the most powerful men in the Gilded Age Senate.
William Boyd Allison, a Dubuque lawyer, was elected to Congress and then to the U.S. Senate, where he served Iowa from 1873 until his death in 1908 — one of the longest Senate tenures of the era.
As a leader of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate's inner circle, he shaped federal spending and tariff policy for decades and was twice considered for the presidency.
Allison's long career gave Iowa enormous influence in Washington during the Gilded Age. A monument to him stands on the Iowa Capitol grounds in Des Moines.
He remains one of Iowa's most powerful national politicians.
The Dubuque senator whose 35 years in Washington made him one of the most powerful men in the Gilded Age Senate.
William B. Allison was from Dubuque, Iowa.
1829–1908.
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Portrait: Wikimedia Commons (public domain or freely licensed).