John Sherman (May 10, 1823 â€" October 22, 1900) was an American congressman and senator from Ohio during the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. He was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison. His brothers included General William Tecumseh Sherman, Judge Charles Taylor Sherman, and Hoyt Sherman, an Iowa banker. As a Republican senator, he worked on legislation to restore the nation's credit abroad and produce a stable, gold-backed currency at home. Serving as Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, Sherman helped to end wartime inflationary measures and to oversee the law allowing dollars to be redeemed for gold. He returned to the Senate after his term expired, continuing his work on financial legislation, as well as writing and debating laws on immigration, business competition law, and interstate commerce. In 1897, he was appointed Secretary of State by President William McKinley, but due to failing health, he retired in 1898 at the start of the Spanishâ€"American War.
