James Harlan

James Harlan (1820–1899) was a lay Methodist minister and president of what is now known as Iowa Wesleyan College. As a U.S. senator from that state, he was responsible for the passage of the original Homestead Act of 1862. Although President Lincoln had Harlan confirmed as Secretary Usher’s successor at the Department of the Interior in 1865, he had not taken office at the time of Lincoln's assassination and therefore had to be renominated by President Johnson. As secretary, Harlan replaced three bureau chiefs and somewhat controversially dismissed scores of pensioners—most notably Walt Whitman. Harlan resigned in 1866, when he felt he could no longer support President Johnson's policies but was almost immediately re-elected to his U.S. Senate seat, where he chaired the committees on Public Lands, the District of Columbia, Education and Indian Affairs.