Donelson Caffery (September 10, 1835–December 30, 1906) was an American politician from the state of Louisiana, a soldier in the American Civil War, and a sugar plantation owner.[1]
He was a strong anti-imperialist and anti-expansionist, a position driven by his concern that new American possessions in tropical climates(like Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines) would harm his fellow Louisiana sugar planters by flooding the market with cheaper (and now tariff-free) sugar.[3][4]
He was the first nominee for President of the United States of the "Democratic National Party" at its Indianapolis Convention in 1900 but declined the nomination of this group.[citation needed] He declined to seek a second full term in 1900. The a group of anti-imperialists, meeting in New York on 5 September 1900, also nominated Caffery for President and Boston attorney and historian Archibald M. Howe for Vice President. Caffery, a staunch Democrat, likewise refused this nomination, and Howe quickly withdrew as well.
Caffery served as chairman of the Senate Committee on enrolled bills from 1893 to 1894 and as chairman of the Senate Committee on corporations organized in the District of Columbia from 1899 to 1901.
After he left the Senate, Caffery resumed practicing law. He died in 1906 on December 30 in New Orleans Louisiana,[5] and is interred at Franklin Cemetery in his native Franklin.
Caffery's grandson, Patrick T. Caffery, served one term in the Louisiana House of Representatives and two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1969–73.[6]
