A New Hampshire Republican, Daniel Clark authored the resolution that expelled ten southern senators for their support of the rebellion during the Civil War. Clark fervently opposed slavery and in 1864 spoke eloquently in support of the constitutional amendment to abolish it: "To restore this Union with slavery in it when we have subdued the rebel armies would be again to build your house on its smoking ruins, when you had not put out the fire which burned it down." His colleagues awarded him the high honor of electing him president pro tempore in 1865-1866. Clark resigned his Senate seat in 1866 to accept an appointment to the U.S. District Court, a position he held until his death in 1891.
