Tod Robinson Caldwell
Encyclopedia
Governor of North Carolina
The Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive of the State of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states. The current governor is Bev Perdue, North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
from 1871 to 1874.
He was born in Morganton
Morganton, North Carolina
Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. Reader's Digest included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census...
, North Carolina. He lived in Burke County
Burke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 89,148 people, 34,528 households, and 24,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 37,427 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
.
Caldwell attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, was a member of Dialectic Senate
The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies
The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, commonly known as Di-Phi, are the debate and literary societies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.- History :...
, became solicitor for Burke County, and was a member of the General Assembly
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...
.
He succeeded to the office upon the impeachment and removal from office of Governor William Woods Holden
William Woods Holden
William Woods Holden was the 38th and 40th Governor of North Carolina in 1865 and from 1868 to 1871. He was the leader of the state's Republican Party during Reconstruction. Holden was the second governor in American history to be impeached, and the first to be removed from office...
. At the time, Caldwell was the first Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
The Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina is the second highest elected official in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the only elected official to have powers in both the legislative and executive branches of state government...
, an office created by the 1868 state constitution
North Carolina Constitution
The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law...
.
When elected in 1872 on the Republican ticket to a full term, Caldwell became the second Republican elected governor of North Carolina. His areas of interest were the state debt and the state finances and the opening of the public schools which had been closed in 1863 due to lack of money. He appointed Alexander McIver as Superintendent of Public Instruction
North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction
The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the elected head of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and oversees the public school systems of the state. The Superintendent is currently an elected member of the North Carolina Council of State, chosen in a partisan...
and got a bill passed allowing private aid for public schools in order to gain funds to reopen the schools. [North Carolina Government (1979), p. 426]
Governor Caldwell died in 1874, before the end of his term of office.