Daniel Dougherty

Daniel Dougherty (October 15, 1826 – September 5, 1892) was a Philadelphia lawyer involved in Democratic Party politics.

[1] From a young age, Dougherty gained a reputation as a natural orator; he made his first political speech in 1847, before he was old enough to vote.

He achieved an acquittal in a homicide case early in his career when the defendant was widely perceived to be guilty; the result was largely attributed to Dougherty's speech to the jury.

[3] Dougherty's oratorical powers became known to a wider audience in 1856, when he addressed the state Democratic convention to some acclaim.

[1] Dougherty worked for President Abraham Lincoln's reelection in 1864, the only time he did not support the Democratic candidate.

[6] His speech was brief, but powerful in praise of Hancock: I present ... one who, on the field of battle, was styled "the Superb,"...Whose nomination will thrill the land from end to end and crush the last embers of sectional strife, and be hailed as the dawning of the longed-for day of perpetual brotherhood.

We can appeal to the supreme tribunal of the American people against the corruptions of the republican party and its untold violations of constitutional liberty.

In this supreme moment – the destinies of the Republic – the imperiled liberties of the people, hang breathlessly on your deliberations.

[2] Again, Dougherty was chosen to give a nominating speech, this time of the incumbent, President Grover Cleveland.

Dougherty used his powers of persuasion in the religious sphere, as well, addressing the Roman Catholic Lay Congress at Baltimore in 1889.