Representative James Harlan

James Harlan was the name of several notable American public figures whose careers spanned law, politics, federal administration, and public service, and whose legacies are reflected both in the historical record and in public monuments. Most prominently, James Harlan of Iowa (1820–1899) served as a United States Senator and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, while James Harlan of Kentucky (1800–1863) served as a state attorney general, secretary of state, and member of the United States House of Representatives. Their family line continued in public life through James S. Harlan (1861–1927), an American lawyer and commerce specialist, and the name endures in modern times with Jim Harlan (born 1954), an American football player. The Iowa senator is also commemorated in sculpture by the work known as James Harlan (Walker), a statue of Harlan by the sculptor Nellie Walker.

James Harlan of Iowa was born on August 26, 1820, in Clark County, Illinois. He grew up on the American frontier and pursued education as a means of advancement, eventually attending Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, Indiana. After graduating in 1845, he taught school and studied law, reflecting the dual interests in education and public affairs that would mark his later career. He was admitted to the bar and briefly practiced law, but soon turned toward academic administration and politics. By the early 1850s, he had settled in Iowa, where he became active in civic life and in the emerging anti-slavery political movements that were reshaping national politics.

Harlan’s public career advanced rapidly in Iowa. He became president of Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, underscoring his commitment to higher education and Methodist principles. Entering politics as a member of the newly formed Republican Party, he was elected to the United States Senate from Iowa, first serving from 1855 to 1865. In the Senate, he aligned with the anti-slavery wing of the party and supported the Union during the Civil War. His legislative work placed him among the prominent Republican figures of the era, and his loyalty to President Abraham Lincoln and the Union cause helped position him for executive-branch service.

In 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed James Harlan of Iowa as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. In that capacity, Harlan oversaw federal responsibilities related to public lands, Native American affairs, and internal development at a time of post–Civil War reconstruction and westward expansion. His tenure was marked by efforts to reform aspects of the department, though he also became known for controversies, including his attempt to remove poet Walt Whitman from a government clerkship. Harlan resigned from the Cabinet in 1866 amid growing tensions between Johnson and congressional Republicans. He returned to the Senate for a second period of service, representing Iowa again from 1867 to 1873, where he continued to support Reconstruction policies and Republican legislative priorities.

After leaving the Senate for the final time, Harlan remained engaged in public and educational affairs in Iowa. He resumed his association with Iowa Wesleyan University and took part in civic and political activities, though he no longer held national office. He lived to see the closing years of the nineteenth century and the consolidation of many of the policies he had supported during his career. James Harlan of Iowa died on October 5, 1899, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, leaving a legacy as one of the state’s most prominent nineteenth-century statesmen. His memory is preserved not only in historical records but also in public art, including James Harlan (Walker), a statue of Harlan by Nellie Walker, which commemorates his contributions to Iowa and to the nation.

James Harlan of Kentucky, born in 1800, pursued a parallel but distinct path in public service in the antebellum South. A lawyer by training, he rose through state politics to serve as Attorney General of Kentucky and later as Secretary of State of Kentucky, positions that placed him at the center of legal and administrative affairs in the Commonwealth. His prominence in state government led to his election as a U.S. Representative, and he served in the United States House of Representatives, giving him a role in national legislative debates in the decades preceding the Civil War. He remained an important figure in Kentucky’s legal and political circles until his death in 1863, during the height of the national conflict that had been building throughout his career.

The Harlan name continued in American public life through James S. Harlan (1861–1927), an American lawyer and commerce specialist. Born into a family already associated with law and government, he developed expertise in regulatory and commercial matters at a time when the United States was grappling with the economic and legal implications of industrialization and interstate trade. His professional work in law and commerce placed him among the specialists who helped shape the emerging framework of federal economic regulation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In a different sphere, the name persisted into contemporary American culture with Jim Harlan (born 1954), an American football player whose career reflects the broad diffusion of the Harlan family name beyond law and politics into modern athletics.