Wheeler, William Almon (1819-1887), served as vice president of the United States from 1877 to 1881 under President Rutherford B. Hayes. He also served as a Republican from New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863 and from 1869 to 1877. As a congressman, he devised the Wheeler Adjustment in 1874 to settle a disputed election in Louisiana.
Wheeler opposed the so-called Salary Grab Act of 1873, by which members of Congress granted themselves and other government officials pay increases. Wheeler refused to profit from the additional income. He bought government bonds, and then had the bonds canceled.
Wheeler was born on June 30, 1819, in Malone, New York. He was a successful lawyer and businessman. He died on June 4, 1887.
