Thomas Dickens Arnold

Thomas Dickens Arnold (May 3, 1798 – May 26, 1870) was an American politician who served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee's 2nd district from 1831 to 1833, and the 1st district from 1841 to 1843. Arnold, reportedly a slave owner, was pro-Union. A staunch opponent of Andrew Jackson, he spent his first term in Congress trying to thwart the Jackson Administration's agenda, and subsequently helped establish the Whig Party in Tennessee. He was twice gerrymandered out of office by Jackson's allies in the state legislature.

Described as "one of the most erratic politicians ever produced by East Tennessee," Arnold was remembered by his peers for his impassioned and unpredictable speeches, unwavering dedication to his positions, and ruthless use of wit and sarcasm. His attacks against Sam Houston in Congress provoked an assassination attempt from a Houston supporter in 1832. While Arnold provided vigorous opposition to Democrats such as Andrew Johnson, he frequently clashed with leaders of his own party, such as William "Parson" Brownlow and T.A.R. Nelson.

On the eve of the Civil War, Arnold remained solidly pro-Union. At the East Tennessee Convention, which met following Tennessee's secession from the Union in June 1861, Arnold advocated the separation of East Tennessee from the rest of the state, and called for the use of force if necessary. He remained openly defiant of the Confederacy for the duration of the war. After the war, he taught school in Knox and Grainger counties. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1822, and commenced practice in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In the mid-1820s, Arnold was one of the few Tennessee politicians who opposed the initiatives of Jackson. In 1825, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress against Jackson ally and three-term 2nd district incumbent John Cocke, losing by a vote of 4,770 to 3,343. When he again ran for the seat in 1827, he circulated a pamphlet in the 2nd district that assailed Jackson's character, and rehashed an oft-repeated accusation that Jackson was an adulterer.

1st congressional term

By the early 1830s, many East Tennesseans had grown frustrated with Lea's opposition to federally funded internal improvements, as the mountainous region's isolation was stalling its economic development. In 1831, Arnold was finally elected to Congress, edging Lea by a vote of 4,935 to 4,702.

Fed up with Arnold, Jackson's allies in the Tennessee General Assembly redrew Arnold's district, moving Jefferson and Cocke counties, where Arnold had his strongest support, to the 1st district. Undaunted, Arnold moved to Greeneville, in the 1st district, and challenged the 1st district incumbent, John Blair, in the 1833 election. In a three-way race that included William Blount Carter, Arnold placed third, winning just 1,747 votes to 3,236 for Blair and 2,642 for Carter. In a May 1841 editorial, Nelson wrote of Arnold, "I feel constrained to publish him as a liar, a scoundrel and a Coward."

In spite of his feud with Nelson, Arnold easily won the election in 1841. Like many of his fellow Whigs in Congress, he grew increasingly frustrated with President John Tyler, who had run with Harrison on the Whig ticket, but was proving hostile to many of the party's core initiatives. Following Tyler's veto of a Henry Clay bill calling for the establishment of a new national bank, Arnold dismissed Tyler as an "unfortunate miserable wretch."

After the state legislature again redrew his district, Arnold, realizing had little chance of being reelected, declined to run in 1843.

In the years leading up to the Civil War, Arnold, like many of East Tennessee's Whigs, remained staunchly pro-Union. Throughout the first half of 1861, Arnold, Brownlow, Temple, Nelson, and other Whig leaders relentlessly canvassed East Tennessee to rally support for the Union cause. At the first session of the East Tennessee Convention in May 1861, Arnold delivered a two-hour speech that, according to Temple, was the "finest effort of his life."

Arnold spent most of the war at his home in Greeneville, ignoring threats to Union supporters who remained in the region while it was under Confederate control. His family was divided during the war, with two of his sons serving as officers in the Confederate Army.

After the war, Arnold resumed his practice of law. He died on May 26, 1870, while attending court in Jonesborough.