Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and later moved to Massachusetts to pursue a legal career.
He built a successful practice in the 1840s and 1850s, and became involved in local politics as a Democrat.
A compelling public speaker, Butler was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1853.
He successfully ran for a Massachusetts Senate seat in 1859.
Despite his Protestant upbringing he gained a faithful following among Massachusetts Catholics, and also built support among laborers.
In the 1860 presidential campaign, Butler sought compromise with the slave power, and believed Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi ought to be the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Butler had been elected a brigadier general of the Massachusetts militia, and when the Civil War began in 1861, he quickly organized his men and marched south.
Butler's men occupied Baltimore to ensure that Maryland did not follow its fellow Southern states into secession.
He was promoted to major general in May of that year, and sent to command at Fort Monroe in Virginia, where he pioneered the tactic of seizing and freeing slaves as "contraband of war".
When Union forces captured New Orleans, Butler was sent to command there.
Butler's rule was harsh, and he became especially reviled among Southern whites, to whom he was known as "Beast" Butler.
He was transferred to the Virginia theater in 1863, where he worked under General Ulysses S. Grant's direction in the campaigns that led to the Confederacy's defeat.

After the war, Butler was elected to Congress as a Republican, and soon came to identify with that party's more radical element.
In 1868, he was among the leaders in President Andrew Johnson's impeachment.
Butler's wartime exploits earned him support among blacks and abolitionists, which, combined with his existing base among laborers, ensured his reelection for several terms.
His radicalism made him enemies among conservative Republicans, however, and when he lost his seat in the Democratic wave of 1874, he began to shift his allegiance to the nascent Greenback Party.
In 1876, he returned to the House as a Republican, but in 1878 he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts as an independent Greenbacker with Democratic support.
Butler had supporters across the political spectrum—he was often said to be "a member of all parties and false to each"—and was considered a presidential possibility when the Greenbackers convened in Chicago in 1880.
Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and later moved to Massachusetts to pursue a legal career. He built a successful practice in the 1840s and 1850s, and became involved in local politics as a Democrat. A compelling public speaker, Butler was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1853. He successfully ran for a Massachusetts Senate seat in 1859. Despite his Protestant upbringing he gained a faithful following among Massachusetts Catholics, and also built support among laborers. In the 1860 presidential campaign, Butler sought compromise with the slave power, and believed Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi ought to be the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
Butler had been elected a brigadier general of the Massachusetts militia, and when the Civil War began in 1861, he quickly organized his men and marched south. Butler's men occupied Baltimore to ensure that Maryland did not follow its fellow Southern states into secession. He was promoted to major general in May of that year, and sent to command at Fort Monroe in Virginia, where he pioneered the tactic of seizing and freeing slaves as "contraband of war". When Union forces captured New Orleans, Butler was sent to command there. Butler's rule was harsh, and he became especially reviled among Southern whites, to whom he was known as "Beast" Butler. He was transferred to the Virginia theater in 1863, where he worked under General Ulysses S. Grant's direction in the campaigns that led to the Confederacy's defeat.
After the war, Butler was elected to Congress as a Republican, and soon came to identify with that party's more radical element. In 1868, he was among the leaders in President Andrew Johnson's impeachment. Butler's wartime exploits earned him support among blacks and abolitionists, which, combined with his existing base among laborers, ensured his reelection for several terms. His radicalism made him enemies among conservative Republicans, however, and when he lost his seat in the Democratic wave of 1874, he began to shift his allegiance to the nascent Greenback Party. In 1876, he returned to the House as a Republican, but in 1878 he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts as an independent Greenbacker with Democratic support. Butler had supporters across the political spectrum—he was often said to be "a member of all parties and false to each"—and was considered a presidential possibility when the Greenbackers convened in Chicago in 1880.
1880 Greenback National Convention